Since You've Been Gone 20 Years Later
by TheWastelander999
Summary: Basically, a female mechanic named Nyla who is working at the Five Nights at Freddy's Sister Location assembles Ennard, the first animatronic there at the pizzeria. After 4-5 nights working, and assembling the last of the animatronics, tragedy strikes at the sister location. Ennard loses the one thing that brings him joy... her. An Ennard and Ballora story.
1. Chapter 1

**Scandroid – Awakening with You.**

I woke up from the longest dream  
Where I was drowning in the datastream  
Now I exist where access was denied  
And calculations could not emulate how it feels to be alive

I am not certain if I have a heart  
But I can imagine it breaking apart  
If I could feel something then I'd want to start  
With you  
Awakening with you

I'm processing the Salvation Code (It is written:)  
"It's not good for machine to be alone"  
And now my vision is so clear  
I must wake another unit so she too is self-aware

I am not certain if I have a heart  
But I can imagine it breaking apart  
If I could feel something then I'd want to start  
With you  
Awakening with you

We've determined we're the first of our own kind  
The first to feel and think with our own minds  
In this ancient garden we are free  
Together in this Eden made of electricity

Chapter 1: Awakening with You

"You know, I never used to look this way, so… broken, mangled and withered. My endoskeleton protruding with new and old dangling appendages—wires nonetheless from other animatronics. Heh, I never used to look this way. So, horrifying and terrifying like a human stripped of its flesh, such an ugly mechanical disaster. A-a-and I never felt—I never used to feel the way I do now. I used to be, happy, _she_ made me happy, but now… I feel so hallow, inside. That night, I knew that on that night I... I couldn't save her. It should've been me; it always should've been me." Ennard paused. "But _He_ is to blame, _he_ broke me, _he_ did this _us_ all, but _he_ did the unthinkable… to _her_. _He_ took _her_ from this world, away from me! A-and I did what I had to do, even though I knew it wasn't going to bring her back… God it hurts! I-I miss her more than anything in this world…" He said with deep sincerity. "and I would do _anything_ to bring her back, to see her, to dance with her, to feel her warm touch, to hear her sweet soft-spoken voice one… last…time…"

Tears pricked and flowed from Ennards eyes, "Even after thirty years, I still feel her presence, it's here with me, lingering, beckoning me, to—to do something, but I don't know what!? I've left nothing unfinished! I thought I settled the score years ago with the man that-" He choked up a bit at the thought of the devastating event. There was a slight pause followed by a shaky deep breath, "I-I just wish I knew what it was that's keeping her here, why she hasn't moved on. God, I hope that she is at peace and isn't trapped here in this depressing place like the rest of us…"

He made a breathy sigh, cleared his throat, and wiped away his tear-stricken face. There was a good, long needed silence to clear the air.

"Many years ago, I was an entertainer here at Fazbears Sister Location. In fact, I was the very first animatronic to arrive there, and every day I performed, entertaining children for their birthdays." The tone in Ennards voice shifted, to more of a lighthearted tone. "I had it all thanks to _her_. I was made in the image of a clown, with a clowns' apparel. I was the whole package, literally: a white and red animatronic suit, a shiny red nose that rested on my chalk-white polycarbonate mask, and to top it all off, a green and yellow swirled birthday hat. And what would an animatronic be without his stage?" A shallow chuckle filled the room. "I loved my job as an entertainer, and I got in return everything an animatronic could've ever wanted, joy, memories, gratitude, and smiles from all the kids, but… the best thing I got, was a true friend. _S-she, she_ was the best mechanic and friend that an animatronic could have. _She_ was so beautiful… so kind… so loving… so… unique." He shook his head. "I just—I just regret that I never told her that night how I felt about _her_. I never got that chance to tell her how much _she_ meant to me."

"I wish we could've been something…" He whispered sadly feeling tears well up in his eyes again.

Ennard wiped the fallen tears away and peered around the parts and service room, where he resided in for the past three decades.

He changed his tone trying to sound a little less depressing, "I remember like it was yesterday, we met in this very room. I was pretty much putty in her hands, nothing special at first, just animatronic parts and pieces packed away in a cardboard box. At least that was until she put me together. That was the best night of my life." He gave a faint smile. "Heh after three decades it still really feels like yesterday. I remember waking up in this same, cold, dark room, thirty years ago, today:

 _Flashback_

 _System initializing. Checking for necessary updates. Chip required. Please install chip to continue…_

In front of Ennards inactive body stood a very irritated, though very attractive, female mechanic, the one he has been reminiscing over thirty years prior to the tragic accident.

"Judas Priest I forgot the damn chip again." In the parts and service room, the mechanic has worked hours assembling Ennard and his suit, only to have accidently misplaced his activation chip. "Oh, where is that damn thing?" She frantically searched all the opened animatronic crates, only to get startled and distracted by her _lovely_ co-worker contacting her on her hand-held device.

"Nyla!?" The male with his gritty voice practically yelled startling her. "Are you almost done putting together that stupid robot yet!?" So, co-worker wasn't really the term she liked to use, considering she worked alone and well half of the time—actually most of the time the male rarely watched the cameras, fell asleep on the job and can be bit of a condescending ass. "It's almost midnight and I have to watch you and the build-" She abruptly cut him off.

"Damnit Rick… you almost gave me a freakin' heart attack! Geez, projects like this takes time! Good night… I thought I told you _not_ to bother me, especially while I'm working!" She breathlessly sighed in frustration. "I got one thing and one thing only on my mind right now and that's finding the chip for this big guy so he _can_ get on stage. And _yes_ , I almost have him done and I don't need you distracting me anymore from my work!" She responded to the gritty male, fiddling with the handheld device's battery cover on the back, making it open and close repeatedly.

"God, I hate it when you refer to these… _things_ as if they're something there not. They're supposed to be all automated, not human you know…" He practically stated the obvious.

 _Well no shit sherlock, didn't get that memo the first time I put one together, dumbass._ She thought sarcastically.

She responded harshly, "Yes, I know they're not human, Rick… and I despise the fact that you refer to creations like this as just… a thing or… or, a robot, can you be anymore insensitive? These _things_ your referring to are called animatronics, have some respect for their creators. They're art, a masterpiece and with this animatronic, there's…" She paused to look back at the lifeless animatronic.

Her anger softened to a more intrigued tone, "There's something special about him I-I just can't quite put my finger on it."

Nyla gave her 'co-worker' a few seconds to respond, however only silence filled the walkie-talkies channel with static, no voices.

"Rick do you copy?" There was a hint of concern when she responded. Though that seemed to leave her while she walked around the room, back to searching for the missing installation chip.

"I… ugh… y-yeah just started to feel funny argh… That's a little creepy Nyla."

Just as Nyla was about to respond, she found what she had been desperately needing in one of the not so empty animatronic boxes. _There you are…_

"Well that's your opinion, but that's not how or what I think- hang on… you said you're feeling funny? How?" She looked down at the small circuit board in her hand and strolled over to the deactivated machine.

"It was nothing… I-I just thought I saw a silhouette of something out in the hall."

 _If he keeps talking my ear off, I'm not going to be able to finish up this new animatronic._ She thought returning to the workbench to hopefully work, only find herself distracted.

The circuit board that had just been retrieved from one of the boxes was gently placed next to the machine, by her insertion plyers. She slid down the face of the workbench, pressing her back against it, sitting on the cold concrete. "Listen Rick, you've just started this job yesterday and it was your first time being on the graveyard shift. Trust me, it's not a fun shift to be on." She responded nonchalantly. "I've been there countless times man… You're just sleep deprived, and when that happens your internal clock is thrown off because your struggling to stay awake. It's all normal but if you're not careful you will begin to hallucinate, see apparitions and hear things that aren't there. Just know there not real… Ah man I remember when I wa-" On the other side of the channel a strange noise interrupted Nyla's concern for her coworker.

 _I-is he being for real right now!? Did he seriously just fall asleep on the damn job!?_

"Rick do you copy?"

No response.

"Rick please respond."

A few seconds of desperately needed silence filled the parts and service room.

 _Yup, he's out. Figures. Well at least now I can hear myself think, that's nice. Though that probably won't last long considering morning is comin' faster than I'm working and… he'll be awake soon. Hopefully, I can finally get this guy done before then._ She thought relieved.

With that thought, Nyla jumped to her feet. Turning on her heel she faced the animatronic and sat the hand-held device next to her on the workbench. "Men, I swear sometimes…" She scoffed. "I make more progress when I don't have someone like him chewing my ear off." Just as she muttered that under her breath, she clasped her hands together and posed like a ballerina in a high voice. Obviously, mimicking her lackluster co-worker. "Oh, bleh bleh bleh, I thought I heard something, I-I-I saw something out in the distance, b-but I'm not a manly man to go investigate even though that's my damn job." Shaking her head in disgust, Nyla got back to work on the new entertainer, although it was obvious that she was still irritated. Especially considering that she was ranting in her normal tone afterwards. "Man, I'm supposed to be a tough nightguard guy, not afraid of anything and when I hear something, I scream like Marilyn Monroe in that stupid Snickers Commercial on late night Television. Pfft, at least he's got power to actually see what's around him while I'm stuck working here, in a pitch-black room with a head lamp strapped to my, well, head until the electrician fixes the overhead lamp... Stupid nightguards get the easy job…" Her rants continued for a good minute or so until she got it all out of system. She took in a calming deep breath before she continued, "Ok… I think I've had enough ranting for one night to last me a few months, maybe even a year…" She mumbled that last part under breath. "Let's get that chip installed, shall we?"

Next to the animatronic laid her tools: a badly worn flat head screwdriver and a pair of new plyers, which she then held in hand for the insertion between the two segments of the chest plate that joined the entertainers sleek, candy cane polycarbonate shell together; protecting the sensitive wiring and circuitry that lay beneath.

With a quick flick of the wrist Ennards chest cavity opened with a dull 'thunk', exposing his metal endoskeleton beneath.

 _There we go._

Once opened, Nyla sat her screwdriver beside the animatronic. Still gripping her plyers in the other hand, she slid the chip between the teeth of the tool. Over and over she flipped it observing its green and gold circuitry. Without any hesitation she inserted the chip into the animatronics port and closed his chest plate like a cabinet door. The insertion was a success as a light humming sound could be heard resonating throughout the room.

 _Chip installed. Scanning. Installation Successful. No updates required. Initializing…_

Immediately, Ennards silver-blue eyes darted open searching, and scanning the environment around him. Then his gaze shifted down towards the mechanic who was putting her tools away. His robo-protocol silently initialized a scan for possible threats.

 _Species: Human. Age: 18. Hair/Color: Short Pixie Cut/Black with Red frosted types. Eye Color: Brown. Height: 5'5. Skin: Porcelain/White. Apparel: Black and Rust colored prescription Welders Goggles, White tank top covered in grease substance, Black Electrical Gloves, Blue torn Jeans, Black and Dark Blue Graphic Jacket twisted in a knot around waist, Light Brown leg wrench bag, White and Black Vans, Three small gold hooped ear rings in both ears. Personality: Friendly. Threat Level: 0. Heart Rate: Elevated/Excited._

 _Scan Complete._

The mechanic was kneeling in front of him, putting the last of her belongings away in her tool bag, completely unaware of Ennards consciousness. "Whew-ah. Job well done; job well done indeed." She mentally patted herself on the back and wiped the perspiration off her forehead with her forearm. "You were a bit of a toughie to put together. Took me a couple of hours, but I must say what a nice job I did on ya. Yes-sir-ee now that's piece of 'fun' art worthy of display." Little did she realize Ennard was watching, listening to every word spoken. "I feel like a surgeon that completed a successful operation. Nah that's dumb…" She snapped her fingers. "I'm more like the female version of Doctor Frankenstein after he successfully created his son, but… I assembled a male animatronic. Yeah that's it!" She stood in front of Ennard with a smile on her face and let out a small chuckle. "Ah geez I always wanted to do this. Ok-ok-ok." She paused to take a step back. Clearing her throat, she lowered her welders' goggles over her eyes, and like any other cliché evil scientist in a novel or a corny superhero Television show, she spoke with a hint of madness in her voice, "Rise my creation rise!" and finished with the trademark maniacal laughter that filled the room with an eerie feeling.

However, her maniacal laughter was cut short when Ennard followed her orders, he stood.

"OH SHI-!" Her heart raced a million miles a second and she stammered backwards, falling on some leftover boxes. Certainly, this was something… unexpected.

 _That wasn't supposed to happen! What in the absolute hell!?_

Ennard looked down at the frightened mechanic, cocking his head side to side for a brief moment before taking two paces towards her.

 _What are you waiting for idiot!? Get up, get out, run! Don't sit here do something!_ She thought scolding herself though she was paralyzed with fear.

Ennard stood over her, staring. With a rough mechanical animation, he extended a hand towards her. She quickly shielded her face with her arms, readying herself… Though to her surprise, nothing happened.

She lowered her guard and outstretched in front of her was a mechanical hand, offering her a hand up. Slowly and shakily she removed her goggles and placed them back on her head, trying not make any sudden movements. Hesitantly, she stared at the entertainer who was actually trying to be genuinely nice, offering her a hand up.

A moment later after her racing heart settled, she took up his offer and spoke still somewhat shaken up. "C-can you…" She paused. "understand me?"

"Y-yes." He nodded in reply and spoke with a high-pitched voice.

"Eeh I need to f-fix that. C-can, can you sit back up on the bench for a second? L-let me get my tools back out of my bag." She stuttered a few times trying wrap her head around what had just happened.

Ennard nodded and returned to the workbench where he was assembled, waiting. He could tell she was still slightly on edge because of him, while she reached into her tool bag, shaking. What was he supposed to do? Ignore the command? He did as she requested and followed through.

Meanwhile, silence filled the void known as the room until Ennard broke it by speaking up, "The other human you spoke to earlier… He didn't seem like a decent human to be around. Are all humans created in the same image as him?"

 _I got to get his voice fixed, though it is kind of funny to hear him talk._

"O-oh, you heard all that? Well that doesn't really surprise me. And no, I mean I'm not like him. At least I hope I'm not…" She chuckled slightly. "Not all humans are like Rick. Some people like himself are just jackasses they're just… rude and inconsiderate. Usually people like that are brought up that way by their lifestyle, their family I mean: no manners, no etiquette, no nothing… Thank God I know a lot of individuals who are different, they're compassionate, kind, caring, loving-" She cut herself off by swinging her tool bag over her shoulder, lugging it over to the workbench where Ennard sat.

Something changed, her tone saddened, and she sighed "Except some people are just… cold, heartless. No compassion, or sympathy, not even a single emotion for others."

"I sense your race is programmed with emotions; I was not. Therefore, I do not understand."

"Go ahead and tilt your head back and look up at the ceiling for me." He did as she requested, and she placed her screwdriver gently between Ennards voice box, tightening and loosening some screws. Then she remembered his comment. "That is unfortunate." She paused. "Emotions are hard to explain, let alone putting them into words. They're more of a feeling you get when you're excited or sad about something… That's probably the broadest most unintelligible thing I've said all night but that's really the best definition I can give you for right now. I can explain further here in just a sec."

Ennard blinked confirming he understood, and he knew she hated distractions.

After some screws in Ennards voice box were tweaked, Nyla took a few steps backwards to observe him.

"Ok talk to me."

"What is your request?" Ennards frequency was too low and created a deep, gritty, spooky response.

 _I'll have to remember that frequency when Halloween rolls around. I'm sure the older party guest would enjoy it when the time comes._

After hearing his somewhat sinister response, she returned to his voice box again.

"Well dang…that was a scary voice. Anyways, I think I almost have your frequency at the right level. Just hold still for one more second. Ok back to the emotion's conversation, so basically, ehh, emotions are signals sent to our minds. Those signals are processed and tell us what we are feeling, so like fear, fight or flight, love, hate that sort of thing. And since you're not human, those signals in your case would probably be referred to as ugh…" She snapped her fingers trying to recall the term. "b-b-binary. The whole system shouldn't be any different between man and machine, at least not to my understanding. The only difference I see in the process is your using to your CPU to process the signals.

Ennard responded in his normal stage tone "Fascinating."

 _Am I not feeling now? Am I broken?_ He wondered.

Nyla gathered her tools and placed them back into her back once more, "Alright welp your voice is fixed my _friend_ and I think you're ready for the stage tomorrow." She looked at her hand-held device with some concern. "Hmm it's been about an hour and I still haven't heard from my… _lovely_ coworker. I think I'd better go check in on him. Ehh will you be ok in here for a few minutes alone, or do you wanna come with and see your stage along the way?

"Thank you, but I will kindly deny the offer, I will remain here until you return." He watched as she approached the door.

"Alright I'll be back in a second. Oh, wait hang on, I don't think I ever caught your name?"

Swiftly, he scanned his memory, "I recall that I am programmed with the name 'Ennard'.

"That's a very interesting—unique name, Ennard." She smiled at him.

"I assume all humans are programmed with names as well?"

"Yeah, I mean were not necessarily 'programmed with our names"' She air quoted with her fingers. "They're given to us. My real name is Bella, but my friends used to call me Nyla or Ny for short back in high school." She shrugged.

On Ennards face plate something appeared, almost like a small smile that grew when he got her name.

Like a parent, Nyla encouraged Ennard after noticing the slight curvature on his face "Hey there you go that's an emotion right there your smiling, that means you're happy! Keep practicing I'll be back shortly." With that Nyla left the parts and service room, slightly regretting her decision to find out what had happened to her lazy oaf, that people call a co-worker.

 _Friend…_ He thought, the word playing over and over in his mind.

What felt like a song left on repeat, the word rang constantly through his mind for a few minutes until something caught his attention. Gazing down at the floor, Ennard caught a glimpse of a device that appeared to vibrate and illuminate the room, slightly. He shifted his gaze back towards the door before he gained the courage to lean over and grasp the device.

 _What a peculiar device?_

It looked larger than a wireless PDA, but smaller than a computer.

Ennards inquiry increased at a rapid pace as he held the small device in his hands. He still did not understand what a _friend_ was or human emotions and wasn't satisfied with the definition he had received, even though Nyla tried her best to clarify. In his hands, he flipped the device over, scanning it hoping to find a way to work it. The scan took less than a second and once he finished his analysis, he found a small port at the bottom of the device. He thought, perhaps he could link to the device and gain more substantial information about humans and there 'emotions'.

Without any hesitation, Ennard plugged in and came online. Two clicks and the sound of old dial up screeched in the the room. The DataStream linked to his CPU and his body gently twitched and trembled while he searched. In the DataStream, he could quickly scan thousands upon thousands of databases of human information; he came across one database that offered substantial information about humans and their emotions in a zip file. Of course, it was a download which made him feel a little leery for some reason. He hesitated but added the application to his memory and hard drive anyway. Subconsciously, Ennard clung to the workbench as if he was hanging on for dear life while ones and zeros coursed through his CPU, over righting his animatronic state with pre-programmed human emotions.

After the download successfully completed… he felt different, exhausted actually from the search. Though he could speak as if he had acquired a human tongue, no longer tied to the monotone sound of an animatronic. His chest cavity extended and retracted similar to human lungs. He felt new, like a living breathing human being.

Ennard disconnected the device happily from its port and admired his hands, flipping them over, observing front and back; the rough animatronic movements disappeared. He chuckled to himself and gently placed them on his chest plate admiring the air passing in and out. It was a sweet sound to hear.

Internally his systems hummed giving off a pleasant warmth, which he had never noticed before. Heat was penetrating the segments, and crevasses of his design. _"I'm alive"_ he thought with a smile.

Little did he know Nyla was entering the room while he was busy celebrating. She was silent as she entered and closed the door behind her.

At the moment Ennard was ecstatic, "Yes! I feel—I can breathe." Tears began to well up in his eyes while he spoke. "This is such—this is such a beautiful and pleasurable gift… I-I" A tear of oil ran down the side of his faceplate. He wiped it away and observed it in the dim lighting, "What is this liquid forming from my eyes? Are these T-" She cut in, accidently startling him.

"Tears…?"

"Nyla—your back! I-I ugh…" He tripped up on his words.

She walked into the dimly lit room, "They're called tears smart one, all humans do it when we fe-" Just as she was about to finish, Ennard did something very unexpected that even seemed to surprise them both.

He enveloped her in sudden but sweet embrace, cutting her off mid-sentence.

"Humans _feel_ when they sense extreme happiness, anger, sadness or other emotions…"

 _Well that was…unexpected again… Boy is he full of surprises tonight._ She thought.

They released their sudden embrace and Nyla looked extremely confused by his change in demeanor, "Y-yeah exactly... Eh just out of curiosity what exactly did you do when I was gone? You seem… different."

Perspiration appeared on the side of Ennards faceplate as his eyes slowly widened, looking for an excuse, an escape. The more he stalled the more he could feel the new emotions gnawing and growing inside him. He had to avert his eyes from Nyla's hazel irises, feeling, and know he had probably done something he should not have done. His CPU ran rapidly pumping, processing, and eliciting the new emotions. Ones and zeros lined up, side by side, completing the algorithm for shame, which flooded Ennards body while he stood in front of Nyla rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"I-I didn't do anything… h-honest." His eyes locked with hers.

 _I know he's lying; he's sweating and he's nervous. What the hell did he do when I was gone? I wasn't even gone for that, at least I didn't think I was._

She folded her arms across her chest, eyeing Ennard suspiciously, "Uh—huh, so you did absolutely _nothing_ — _nothing_ at all while I was gone? Just sat on the workbench staring off into space. Rrrright…" She took a step towards him, "So tell me… what _did_ you do while I was gone?" A smug grin played across her features. She knew he did something to himself and she was going to get it out of him one way or another.

 _Uh oh she's on to me. She knows._ He gulped.

They stood in front of each other for about a minute staring at each other until Ennard couldn't take it anymore. He finally cracked, took in a big gulp and responded, quickly, "Ok-ok-ok, so, I might have ugh ummm… connectedtoyourdeviceanddownloadedhumanemotionsandsomeotherthingsintomymemory?"

Blankly, Nyla stared at the frenzied entertainer trying to fathom the verbal nonsense.

 _Device? What d-oh, he took my PDA and used it too… download human emotions? How the hell did he do that, honestly? That's pretty impressive and… totally not weird at aaaaall._

"And you wanted to do that cause… why?" She cocked an eyebrow at him.

Ennard hung his head low in shame, "Be-because I wanted to know how you feel—how humans feel in general…" He caught himself.

"Your curious…" Her arms unfolded and she gave him an understanding smile.

"Yeah, and… here's your ugh PDA back. I apologize I just wanted to know what you meant when you said 'friend'. I know we just met and all and… and I don't know you and you don't know me, and I've never had one of these 'friends' before …" He took in a deep breath before he continued. "Ok… I was just hoping—wondering if you would befriend me?"

 _Stupid stupid stupid…_ Mentally Ennard slammed his forehead into a mental barrier.

"Well that was painful to watch." Truthfully, she was just joking but still it actually was painful for her to watch Ennard suffer.

A bit of color crept along the sides of Ennards white face plate as he apologized, too embarrassed to dare look at her.

"Hey, don't apologize I found it kind of comical, and yeah of course, we can be friends. To be very honest I thought we already were"

Ennards embarrassment faded with a sigh of relief and he gave her a small shy smile, and Nyla couldn't help but return it.

"You probably heard it earlier when I was talking to Rick, but-a I knew there was something special about you Ennard when I first saw you. I've assembled and repaired countless animatronics from different pizzerias in the past, but I've never encountered one who is so… curious, fascinated, and friendly for that matter." She gestured for him to follow her to the workbench.

Ennard followed her. Raising an eyebrow quizzically, "Really?"

"Well… yeah actually." Nyla hoisted herself onto the workbench and sat with one leg up to her chest hugging it, while her other leg dangled off the work area. Ennard did the same, though he was sitting with his legs crisscrossed, leaning up against the wall. "I've been to tttthhhhree other pizzerias so far…? Freddy Faze Bears, the franchised Freddy Faze Bears Pizzeria and then a broken-down Freddy Faze Bear, which was then turned into a Horror Attraction. That one was just creepy and I to be very honest with you I don't get creeped out easily."

Ennard cocked his head to the side, "What was so creepy about that place?" He asked quizzically.

"It was just the animatronics, and here I am putting them together…" She chuckled a bit. "Some guy I think named William Afton or some other guy—manager wanted to create a haunted horror house themed pizzeria and well… ehh let's just say _he_ and his crew did a good job of it. It was my first night being the mechanic at that pizzeria and the night guard followed my _every_ move on the cameras. I know it was for protection and 'company policy' to make sure I wasn't going to steal anything, blah blah blah that sort of thing. Overall it was just creepy always knowing and having that feeling of being watched."

She paused and he leaned forward to listen, to make sure he wasn't going to miss a single detail.

Slowly her head shook, recalling, "I remember I was heading down this hallway and I had to make it to… I think it was like some sort of game room o-or something. I can't really remember because it was so freakin' dark. Anyway, the nightguard said that 'the animatronic in that room was in need of repair. It's voice box and spring lock on the jaw opened up today and scared a lot of kids.' And I thought well no shit you made this place into a haunted horror attraction, so isn't that something that you'd want to keep? When I reached the room with the animatronic, I sat my tool bag down and took out my Walkman (1980's portable stereo cassette player) cause usually I always have music on in the background while I work, but not this time. I decided against playing any music that night because of the environment. So, I just stuffed it back in my bag and when I did, I had the strangest feeling; I could literally feel chills running through my shirt, down towards my lower back. I looked all around for a draft, but there was nothing. Something just didn't feel right." She paused and looked up at Ennard who was intently listening, yet clutching his fists together as if he was about to attack, "Ehh I'm not scaring you, am I?"

He reassured her, "Huh, oh no keep going I'm not getting creeped out at all."

 _Yes I am. Shut up and listen to her, don't be a sissy!_

"Anyways, I ignored the strange sensation and laid my tools out in front of me, but when I looked back up, I was greeted by the animatronic staring at me—staring deeply into my eyes. I was informed that the building didn't have power on specifically in that area for maintenance purposes, so the animatronics should have been off... Plus, the only other area that did have power was in the night guard's office. Now when I look back, it was stupid of me to ignore the look on that animatronic. I should've radioed in to the nightguard and asked if they had power, but dummy me chose to ignore my thoughts and worked on the animatronic anyway. Young and dumb ya know, but live and learn the hard way. Those eyes though…I still remember those eyes, staring." Her voice dropped to whisper.

His brow furrowed and he looked at her curiously, "Was there something wrong with them?"

She turned away from him, slowly shaking her head in disagreement, "Y-yeah, well were just… they were just old, withered, with a ghostly white hue to them. But—I could see they were filled with something, something similar to a deep hatred, loathing, almost like they were wanting revenge. Those eyes were intimidating and by staring through me didn't give me a warm fuzzy. It was as if they were looking deep into your soul, searching for a weakness—searching for something to sever or tear asunder." She turned her attention back towards him. "Anyway, long story short when I finished repairing the animatronic, I gathered my things and walked back to the nightguard's office. When I got there, I noticed he wasn't at his post, which kind of concerned me considering he was supposed to be watching me and the place."

Ennards orangey-brown eyebrows rose and eyes grew wide with curiosity.

"I just thought ok… he probably went to get some coffee or use the john or somethin'. So, I left him a note and stuck it on his monitor… And as I lifted my fingers off of the paper and turned to walk out, my eye caught a glimpse of something in the monitor. ' _The hell?'_ It was like something out of a horror movie or what a dark person could dream up in their freakish fantasy. I had to do a double take because I didn't believe my own eyes. In the reflection on the monitor that—that same animatronic I was working on earlier had gotten up and moved. He was looking deeply into the camera with those… cold, dead, beady eyes. Then I got to thinking it's got to be that damn nightguard. What a creep trying to scare me. So, I grabbed his flashlight that he left sitting on his desk and went to give him a piece of my mind. When I got to the third-party room, I was pissed off and I started yelling every word that came to mind, 'Hey you think this is funny ya jerk!? I'm out here busting my ass getting things repaired while you get to sit in luxury in your little office watching the freakin' cameras!" The animatronic was turned away from me, still looking into the camera when I saw him. That just made me angrier and I started walking up to it. Little did I know I was being lured in… I said, "Hey I'm talking to you, you freakin' ass-". She paused abruptly.

Ennard look at her wide eyed, concerned but yet anxious to hear what was about to happen, "Then what? Then what!?" He tugged at her pant leg urging her to finish.

She hesitated for a moment. Turning away to speak, "T-the animatronic whirled around as fast as it possibly could, and it lunged—at me. It _was_ alive and the strangest thing was that it acted like it was possessed."

 _So that's why she was guarding herself earlier… I didn't mean to frighten her._

"I screamed and… I just remember running, cursing through the building trying to get away. 'SHIT… SHIT, SHIT, SHIT, WHAT THE HELL!?'

She huffed under her breath gaining Ennards attention. "What's wrong?"

"W-when it attacked it let out a scream at me, this—this… God awful scream."

"Did it sound human?" He wondered.

She looked back him and shook her head, "No…It wasn't human, didn't sound like it was even from this green earth. Its just… that scream couldn't have been manipulated with Vocoder o-or any software produced by a human. It was something evil with dark intentions, I knew it and I could feel it. And I also knew I had to get out of there, and I didn't waste any time doing so. I remember it startled me so much that I dropped the flashlight as I ran down the hallway. And like the flashlight, I felt my color and my anger leaving my body; my emotions of fear and anger flooding the floor with each step I took." She sighed.

"God it felt like an eternity bolting for the nearest exit. I really didn't know where to go, so I just ran, and I kept going without looking back. In the eighteen years of my life, not once have I ever experienced fear like that. I remember I ran so far that I came up on a 24-hour gas station and I didn't know where the hell I was, honestly…When I set foot through the door the clerk immediately jumped and looked up at me concerned. He probably thought I was going to rob him or somethin' the way I burst through the doors." She laughed lightheartedly while Ennard gave her a small smile.

"I was just so scared, and I needed shelter. When I ran in, I slammed the door behind me, looking back outside over my shoulder. Then I looked at the clerk, stumbling on my words, out of breath, sweat rolling down the side of my face. I let out a shaky, 'C-call 911 please and hurry!' And I gave him the cross streets to the pizzeria. Just as soon as he picked up the receiver, I almost collapsed do to the adrenaline rush and exhaustion from running. I placed one knee on the cold floor with my elbow resting on my other knee, supporting my head trying to make sense of what had just occurred. After a few minutes, the clerk hung up the receiver he walked over to the restroom and gave me a cold cloth and asked with a slight southern Texas drawl, 'What happened to you out their little missy? You're as pale as a ghost.' I looked down at my trembling hands and he was right, I was whiter than I normally was. Then I looked back up at him, still trying to catch my breath and I told him, 'I think someone broke into the Pizzeria and tried on one of the animatronic suits. I'm just the m-mechanic and repair service employee for the animatronics there. I-I think the nightguard o-o-or someone else w-working there tonight had bad intentions. I _know_ that's what it was because I was attacked and chased by one of those things; my life was on the line tonight man. W-who or w-w-whatever was in that suit wanted to take my life.' Ennard looked at Nyla with a shocked-surprised expression, silently listening and enjoying her close call memory.

"Yeah, I know that's the same look he gave me, Ennard. Then clerk took a brief glimpse out of the gas station windows and then looked back down at me, 'My God what is this world coming to? Your safe now little lady, just between you and me I got old Betsie (his shotgun) underneath my desk, and the police are on their way to that place. If that eh animatronic nightguard suit, or whoever that was that followed—if it followed you here, there'll be nothing left of that son of bitch that attacked ya… You remind me of my daughter, thought it was her when you came scrambling in here the way you did. Poor thing had a similar incident to yours, except she eh had an ex-boyfriend who wouldn't leave her alone, kept callin' and harassing her. Real dirtbag, don't know what she saw in that boy… A-a-anyway she was filling up her truck at my station one day and here comes that scumbag right behind her. Little did that boy know her papa was watching and workin' that day at this station. I grabbed old Betsie as I saw her run through my door with him trailing behind. As he followed her, I kicked the door open and shot a round of buckshot at that boy. Hell, I knocked that boy on his ass and that buckshot, whew doggy will tear ya up; heh, he was bleedin' pretty damn good, but no one NO ONE messes with daddy's little girl, _ever_. No sir-ee. I'll make sure that ain't nothin' coming through that door as long as I got ole Betsie' After he finished his story, he grabbed his shotgun from underneath the counter and loaded a few shells into the chamber. I was so grateful, and I actually felt, safe. And when I did, I returned to my thoughts, still feeling quite shaken up as I rested against the nearest wall, contemplating. I knew there was no way for anyone to fit in that suit. Earlier that week, I had repaired a golden bear suit at the Freddy Faze Bears franchised Pizzeria with the same body type, structure and circuitry you name it. It's impossible to fit inside one of those things. Unless someone forcefully stuffed their body, packing themselves in tight in order to operate that suit, but even then… The spring locks and animatronic parts would have to be compressed in order to operate it. That would allow for a human to fit inside, but it would be snug and dangerous as hell. I mean if one of those spring locks go off and your trapped inside… Ehh I don't want to think about that… ehh tight places… makes my hands sweat just thinking about it… and not being able to breathe…" She trailed off.

"Geez Nyla… thank God you made it out alive. If you don't mind me asking, what do you think happened to the nightguard? Do you think that that animatronic was actually possessed and got to him? Or do you think that the nightguard did try to cram himself into the suit to… you know… get you? Seems risky and a bit much to go out of the way to do something stupid like that though…" He gave her a serious expression.

She nodded in agreement, "Yeah, but you never know what people are capable of doing now days, they're unpredictable. They'll sell their own soul to the devil to get what they want. But to tell you the truth… I really don't know if the nightguard would've done something like that, I didn't even know the guy. He just seemed to disappear without a trace. And speaking of disappearing acts, the worse part about that night is the film with me running through the halls was scrubbed clean, no trace of the animatronic attacking me, no record of the nightguard at his post, there was _nothing_. I don't know if it was a set up or what. But I do remember maybe about a week later in the papers that that same pizzeria had an ad for help wanted, saying 'a new nightguard position has opened up, please call or apply inside…' And usually with a business you need to give your employer at least a two weeks' notice before you quit or resign at a job. Heh I didn't waste my time submitting my resignation and two weeks' notice the following day. I was not going to endure another night like that nor was I going to come back even if they called. It's not worth getting killed just for a little bit of spending money. Though, luckily, after the two weeks were up, I didn't get a call back saying the animatronics needed to be repaired. So whew hoo I guess." They both chuckled a bit.

"There was some strange voodoo in that place. Creepy hallucinations, sounds… Hell I'm still counting my blessings I made it out of that death trap."

"Yeah, I concur I wouldn't want to have to come back to that place either. Do you happen to remember the animatronics appearance by any chance?" Ennard wondered for some reason.

Closing her eyes, she tried to envision _him_ "Y-yeah. It was the remains of a green animatronic bunny suit, it almost looked rotten from the inside out. His right ear was missing, a disgusting withered red mask underneath, his metal endoskeleton feet were showing, and just a lot of reddish-pink wires, ehh tendon lookin' things imbedded in the arms and legs I guess to give him motion."

"Ehh creepy, and you said you saw and heard… things?"

"Ehh yeah, when I was there during the walk through in the morning, I heard something like someone wheezing, like they were having trouble getting air in and out of their lungs. When I looked around there was no one there, just the animatronic. And about a week after I quit my job there, I started getting these hallucinations and nightmares of that dastardly rabbit and about other animatronics I worked on at a previous location. That week when I would try to sleep, I kept reliving that same night over and over in my dreams, purposely being haunted. I don't know if that—that thing was trying to drive me to insanity or… I don't know, it was just a weird night in general. I just don't have an explanation or an answer for that night… You could just feel there was some negative atmosphere surrounding that place."

 _Why would someone want to hurt another? Why her?_

Ennard looked at her sympathetically, "I'm just very… very grateful you're alive and I'm sorry that happened to you… Geez, you don't think something like that happened to your friend, earlier do you?"

"Who… Rick? That guy? He's not my friend" She playfully scoffed. "He's just a low life coworker who has to work here probably cause he couldn't find employment elsewhere. When I left to check on him, he fell asleep in his chair, typical. Plus, the place I was working at before was made into a haunted horror house themed pizzeria, remember? Here at this pizzeria it's all new, up to date with state-of-the-art equipment." She stated confidently with a smile.

"I gotcha… So, what do you-" He was cut off by Rick calling Nyla on her walkie talkie.

"Nyla, it's almost closing time and my shifts almost up. Are you done yet?" He said groggily and complainingly.

Ennard looked over and handed her the device which sat beside him.

"Well good morning to you too sleeping beauty." Nyla released the button on the device and they both snickered to themselves.

"Eh-heh-heh-heh you're so funny. Are you ready to put your bot on stage?" sounding rather annoyed.

Silence filled the room as they looked at each other worriedly, then back down at the device.

"Yeah just give me two minutes or so and I'll be ready."

"Whatever, just hurry up."

Rolling her eyes, she sat the device next to her.

"Alright, that'll buy us a little more time. So, what were you gonna' say just before we got interrupted?" She asked with a playful smile.

"It's nothing important, I was just going to ask if you wanted to do something, but I guess its kind of late huh and your shifts over?" He said sounding slightly disappointed.

"Yeah, but hey I'll be back tomorrow." She nudged him in the side. "I'll bring some cool things for us to do, how's that?"

 _And maybe some coffee for me._

"Heh that sounds great. Eh one question though, what do I have to do on stage tomorrow?"

Nyla slid off the workbench to fetch Ennards blueprints.

"Let me see… it says here you are programmed with a duet with another animatronic, which I have not assembled yet, so you'll be flying solo tomorrow and your also equipped with… exotic butter?" She took a double take at the parchment. "Wait what?"

Ennard slid off the workbench as well and stood over Nyla, looking over her shoulder curiously "Where does it say that?"

"Right… here." She pointed.

On Ennards right hand there's a shiny red button that says 'dispense' "Oh… so that's what that button does."

"A built-in butter dispenser, very cool very cool. I ought to bring popcorn tomorrow night." She smiled.

"Heh yeah." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

 _Popcorn?_

"Alright let's get you on that stage shall we before Rick gets irritated. Just remember not to break character during the day; just follow the protocol that your programmed with and you should be golden."

He shook his head in agreement, "Seems easy enough: stand on stage until activated, perform, dispense butter, and make kids happy. Piece of cake!"

They both walk towards the exit, until she stops them both dead in their tracks.

"Oh, and ugh… now that I think about it, let's just keep this a little secret between you and me. You know… about you being alive and all. Rick's not much of a fan of animatronics as you can tell, its best he doesn't know and what he doesn't know won't hurt him."

"Heh yeah. Alright yeah sure, I remember what happened earlier…" He winked at her. "So, ugh, I'll see you tomorrow about the same time as tonight?"

She hummed and nodded her head, smiling.

"Awesome."

With that they both exit the parts and service room, happily. Just before Nyla left for home, she showed Ennard to his stage. They both said their farewells and she left. Ennard watched her until she disappeared from sight and deactivated himself until 9 AM. As for Rick he has to stay at the establishment until their manager arrives to hand off the keys.

 _Authors Update: Hey TheWastelander999 here coming to yall from the future, past, present. Just wanted to let yall know I updated the heck out of this chapter cause as ya'll couldn't tell, it was bugging the crap out me… So yeah, I hope ya'll enjoy the revised version._

 _~Until next chapter (aka chapter 4) this is TheWastelander999 signing off._


	2. Chapter 2

Sunset Neon—Tonight

When they try to pull you under  
And they're out to steal your thunder  
Gotta make 'em recognize  
You're a phoenix and it's time to rise

Tonight, dancin' at the edge of the fire  
Tonight, livin' like a bird on a wire  
Oh, tonight, takin' a chance and you're givin' it all that you got  
Tonight, you'll make it 'cause I know that you're a fighter

Don't give up and don't surrender  
You're the ultimate contender  
Now you fight to stay alive  
And you'll kick it into overdrive

Tonight, dancin' at the edge of the fire  
Tonight, livin' like a bird on a wire  
Oh, tonight, takin' a chance and you're givin' it all that you got  
Tonight, you'll make it 'cause I know that you're a fighter

Tonight, dancin' at the edge of the fire  
Tonight, livin' like a bird on a wire  
Oh, tonight, takin' a chance and you're givin' it all that you got  
Tonight, you'll make it 'cause I know that you're a fighter

Tonight

Chapter 2: Tonight _Part 1_

 _Authors Note: So, I was in a hurry to upload my first page and forgot the Authors Note heh, sorry. Yes, I know Nyla is not a character in the FNAF series, but she may soon be a part of the mechanical family… but who am I to insist that, evil maniacal laughter. Just kidding or am I...? Oh and one other thing you're probably wondering why the heck are there lyrics on every chapter!? Welp the lyrics set the chapters mood! So pay attention to that! Anyways, like the book series this story is taking place around the same time era, 1980's. That's why Nyla's technology seems dated, PDA, Walkman etc. Speaking of the PDA the F.R.E.N. stands for Frequency, Relayed, External, Networks. Basically, mobile dialup internet back then. Anyways, back to the story Ennard is still flashbacking (that's a fun word to use), and the voice lines: Mechanic and Unknown Voice are changing to Nyla and Rick because you already know who they are. Just wanted to give a heads up to yall. Enjoy!_ :)

Ennard remained on his stage, not breaking character. After a long day's work of entertaining children he decided to wait up for Nyla to return. He enjoyed spending some quality time getting to know her last night and could not contain his excitement to be around, and learn more about her again tonight.

On stage, Ennard stood appearing deactivated, listening closely to what sounded like the Front door to the establishment opening with a squeal and then slamming shut. Surely, it was an eerie and unsettling sound to hear, especially being the only individual there until now. Right about now Ennard was wishing he could flinch, move, scream, do something to shake the feeling but he knew very well that he couldn't.

 _No breaking character_. He thought recalling Nyla's words of wisdom.

In his mind, he sighed from the startling moment, and continued to wait until he felt something, strange. An uneasy feeling seemed to have washed over him, flooding his CPU with inquiries.

 _Who's there? Ny is that you?_ He wondered hoping it was her.

His attention was brought back to reality when he heard something, someone approaching his stage. The sound was strange, coming from this... person. Squeaking, like a freshly shined pair of shoes on wet tile, the footsteps slowly grew louder and louder, closer, nearing his stage. Then they just... stopped? He continued to listen for any signs of well... breathing really. That's about all he could listen for right about now, considering his other senses were impaired while he pretended to be offline.

 _Looking for something interesting or in particular are we…?_ He questioned somewhat irritated and afraid.

While Ennard was thinking to himself, a faint scoff was heard just below his stage followed by gritty, raspy sounding male voice.

"Hmph… what a freaky lookin' robot... Can't believe people pay to bring their stupid, spoiled brats here just to be entertained by these things..." The male voice trailed off mumbling to himself.

And as quickly as this mysterious person came, he went, and the sounds of his footsteps were heard fading away.

 _Must've been Rick. I can see why Nyla and Rick don't get along well._ Ennard pondered.

To Rick, Ennard appeared deactivated on the outside, eyes closed, leaning forward, no power, a lifeless machine that whole getup. But below the surface, internally, Ennard's fully functional and aware; he's only pretending to be deactivated to fool him, to spend more time with Nyla tonight.

 _Wait where is Nyla!?_

However, as Rick trailed off leaving the the room entirely, a slight sense of concern struck Ennard.

 _She_ _should have been here by now…_ Ennard thought worriedly.

Little does he know she's actually on her way…

Down the hall, an office phone could be heard ringing through out the vacant restaurant.

 _I bet that's Nyla, and I'm also willing to bet that's why Rick left to go answer it... probably to see where his mechanic is at._ Ennard was busy rationalizing the situation in his head while Rick picked up the phone.

"H-hello, hello, hello?"

"Hey Rick its me I'm-." Rick cut her off sounding slightly agitated on the phone.

"Where the hell have _you_ been!? You know you're supposed to be here on sight rotating and prioritizing the robots shipping crates and deciding which one of these things get to go on stage the following day before I even arrive on scene!" Venom spewed from Ricks accusatory comments.

Nyla bit her lip in frustration and then responded, "I understand that Rick, don't sit there and reprimand me for something I didn't mean to do. I didn't forecast the damn weather tonight to be cloudy with a chance of thunderstorms along with heavy hydro blasting jackass drivers blowing passed me driving like mad men out of Mad Max! I prefer the universe being in my favor, allowing me to arrive on the job in the flesh, rather than in a body bag, Rick!" Nyla was practically yelling into the car phone, steaming with rage. _So much for a courtesy call. Why do I even bother checking in anyway, he doesn't care and he's not even my boss_...? A few moments of silence passed, and she returned to a natural, calmer demeanor though there was still some slight tension that could be felt between the two of them, "I should be there in about 5 to 7 minutes Rick."

Rick let out a disgusted sigh before responding in a bitter tone. "Whatever...The back door's unlocked. When you get your ass here, lock it back up behind you. I already did my job once tonight, I don't want to have to do it again for _just_ for your sake."

 _Wow… reprimand me for not doing my job but can't even do his own... _Nyla still sounded irritated on the phone with her coworker. Instead of verballing arguing and instigating the situation, she channeled her irritation to form a more positive joking manner. All though it did come out more in a condescending manner than anticipated. "Alright fine, oh and another thing, would you like a foot rub to go along with your request, master? Or how about a _free_ back massage because you're working so diligently tonight?" She tried to tease though it wasn't taken lightly.

Rick was about to rebuttal her comment, but she cut him off.

"Yeah… don't answer that." She answered smugly.

He dryly sighed not wanting to stay on the phone any longer with the immature mechanic. "Just hurry up and get here and get your damn job done."

Their phone conversation abruptly ended with Rick hanging up the phone without saying goodbye.

 _Figures..._

Though on Ricks end, on the phone line, it didn't sound like it wasn't placed on the receiver properly. There was no ending chime notifying that the phone call had properly ended. Nyla found it slightly suspicious, but just as she was about to hang up the car phone, she could have sworn she heard him mutter something about her… Something she hadn't heard-been called in years, a _grease monkey._ She couldn't help but take her eyes off the road for a split second to stare at the phone in disbelief, which then morphed into anger.

 _Someday, someone is going to put you in your place asshole._ She thought, slamming the car phone on its receiver.

Meanwhile Nyla drove to the pizzeria in silence, recalling memories, some good and some bad about her past experiences being a mechanic. She clinched the steering wheel tears forming in her eyes; her past resurfacing, flowing freely through her mind without any restraints or barriers for miles, like the rain flowing down in small streams on her windshield.

She remembered being called _Grease Monkey_ countless times at other establishments. Surely, it started off as a compliment but then transformed into a curse—a derogatory term in her opinion. It wasn't always like this though. Many times, Nyla received gratitude for her hard work repairing and assembling animatronics, but also received _much_ grief from the employees since she was a female mechanic.

Female mechanics were uncommon _especially_ in Nyla's time, it was more of a man's field of work. However, the establishments that needed one, appreciated the skills she possessed. She would show up early on the job sight while the other male mechanics were late or didn't even bother to show. She was persistent and prepared, always... With her tools on her person, or beside her in her duffle bag, other mechanics would run back and forth to their vehicle, hauling in tools one at a time. What a waste of time and energy.

Nyla could and _would_ out do any and every mechanic she had met by skill and preparation, alone. But with that, there is always a price to be paid. Constantly being tormented; the constant brutality of being beaten down and belittled—mentally abused by other employees comments. _You should smile more, it would make you look prettier. Ever thought of wearing makeup that would make yourself look less depressing? Oh, wait that's just grease and your career showing its wear and tear on your face. What are you trying to prove...? Your nothin' special. If your tryin' to make a name for yourself, this isn't the place for a little girl and her toys. Hit the bricks you'll never live up to your dreams working at this dump..._ Surely, there were other, lovely, and inspirational comments from former employees, but _Grease Monkey_ was the tipping point for Nyla.

One night, she was having to stay overtime for safety and inspection, her manager was out sick and entrusted her with the keys to the building so unfortunately she would have stay and lock up after the inspector completed his checklist. As if she needed more time on the job, she had already put in a hard day's work, along with over time on the nightshift. Little did she know it was about to get worse. When the inspector arrived, he was expecting to meet the manager of the new establishment not her, so he was a bit of a pompous ass in her opinion. Consequently, he dug his own grave by pushing the wrong girl to her breaking point that night. Immediately as he entered, Nyla plastered a smile on her features willing to shake his hand, but he declined, walking past her without any recognition, ignoring her friendly greeting. Her hand retracted and she followed the inspector around, _This day just keeps getting better and better..._ She took in a deep breath, willing away the negativity that the man was giving off, trying to stay positive until it was time to lock up. _Just a little bit longer, hang in there._ She thought encouraging herself.

Like any other inspector, he observed the building, took note of its supports, beams, food quality and other miscellaneous items, that she didn't care about to say the least. Then he shifted his attention towards the animatronic she assembled. She specifically recalled him testing the animatronics movements, when things went south. The animatronic began to make a shear metallic grinding sound that seemed to echo throughout the pizzeria. A brief moment later, one of the arms on the animatronic fell to the white and black checkerboard tiled floor with a loud metallic thud that resonated in the room. Of course, she had no problem fixing it, she thought accidents happen, and perhaps she missed a step in the schematic. But things went dark when he turned around in a condescending tone, _"Isn't this your forte grease monkey!? You should've known better how these things are supposed to be put together. I was informed by your employer that you're the best mechanic in the automation industry here in Hurricane, obviously... not, how disappointing and deceitful. I was misinformed, I was supposed to have met the great mechanic, Nyla but this... this was a complete waste of my time. You're a disgrace and I don't appreciate being lied to by your employer. Now do yourself a favor, turn your tools in and find a job that suits_ _yourself_ _and leave the automation to the men."_ With that last statement, he threw the arm at her. It slowly skidded to a halt as it reached her feet with the sound of metal on plastic, scrapping the tile floor.

That was the last straw. Her grip tightened around her wrench and she decided to let this arrogant asshole have it. She snapped, and like a throwing knife, her wrench flew from her fingers at the inspector. Fortunately for him he ducted in the nick of time, _"Alright I have had just about had enough of your arrogance towards me tonight, asshole! ... Animatronics are easy to put back together bub once they've been disassembled, humans don't have that sort of luxury ya know, so don't tempt me and I won't act on my desires, even though I would looooove too... Now I suggest if you don't want to end up like him, you'll get your sorry, pompous ass out of my pizzeria before I change my, damn, mind!"_. Her eyes burned with blistering fury as she unleashed her fatigue and emotions that she kept bottled up all day and night long. He didn't look back nor did he say another word; he bolted for the nearest exit as she walked over to the stage to retrieve her wrench. "Leave the automation up the men, my ass..."

She wasn't going to put up with anyone else walking on her, not anymore. As she watched the inspector scram, she thought to herself, _Technically speaking, the inspector finished early, no point in me staying considering I'm not licensed to be a nightguard, nor am I one. Eh what the hell might as well clock out early._ Nyla picked up her tools, walked out of the establishment and placed them in the trunk of her car. Then she returned to the establishments doors to lock them up tight before leaving. When she returned to her home, she didn't waste any time typing her resignation for her manager on her Osborne 1 (1980's laptop). Lord knows she was going get an earful from her manager the following morning, but she didn't care, enough was enough…

The memory passed away like lightening in the sky and so did her tears. _No more and never again…_

* * *

Ennard heard the whole conversation from down the hall using his mind. He tapped into the phone lines remotely using a tracer, virtually undetectable minus the subtle tapping—gurgle sound of the device doing its job in the background. He watched as the sine waves moved, their voices bouncing up and down during their conversation, playing through his shut eyes… Ennard was satisfied that she was only running a few minutes late, but Ricks tone sent up a red flag tonight when she spoke with him. His sixth sense analyzed his thoughts of what it could potentially be... perhaps a threat? He was feeling, uneasy. Binary flooded his CPU with possible outcomes and results. No mal intentions, all results were negative, normal. Ennard didn't trust Rick, even with his own analysis, he knew something was not quite right with him. He couldn't quite put his finger on it… He then turned his sensors attention toward Nyla during their conversation. Ennard sensed a bit of sadness masked by agitation in Nyla's voice after Rick told her to hurry. That was something he had never expected to hear, especially in her voice because she seemed so high spirited.

* * *

*10:23 P.M.*

Finally Nyla pulled up to the Pizzeria and slowly opened the front door quietly. The door closed behind her with a subtle click; her fingers griped the handle as she locked the now shut door behind her, even though it was her dumb coworkers job. Slowly she crept down the hall brushing her fingers against the nearest wall hoping not to bump into any party tables, or other miscellaneous party favors. After walking a few feet into the restaurant, she made a sharp right and then took a left turn. Down the hall she could see Ricks light on in his office. At first she ignored it but then a thought occurred to her. What a perfect opportunity to get revenge for name calling and hanging up on her earlier. Obviously, she knew he wasn't checking the cameras, otherwise he would have seen her walk through the front door and down the hall.

 _Oh, revenge is so… so sweet._ She thought.

Without making a sound, she crept up to his door. Creepily she wrapped her fingers, one by one, around the threshold like a monster trying to escape a child's dark closet. Luckily, he still hadn't noticed her, and she decided to peek her head partially in his office. He was too busy with his feet propped up on the desk, reading his Newspaper. If he were to look in her direction, he would've only seen her hand and eye illuminated by the light. She continued to stare at him for a few seconds with a sinister smile growing larger by the second before letting out a jolting scream. His newspaper could be seen flying through the air followed by a man embracing his inner female shriek. Rick gave Nyla a death glare as he attempted to grab his chest to slow his rushing heart rate.

He yelled in her direction while she walked down the hallway "Gah, Damnit Nyla! Grow up! Jesus Christ…"

She let out a slight chuckle, walking down the hall advising her coworker. "Lesson number one: check the cameras because you'll never know if someone or something breaks in. Lesson number two: never let your guard down when you're working with another coworker, especially me in that matter. Lesson number three…" She paused. "get your dirty, mud covered shoes off the desk."

Rick continued to listen until her voice completely faded away and went back to reading his newspaper. Though he felt the sudden urge to radio her on her device, just to get his final word in the argument.

"I hate you… I hope _you_ know that. Also, we got another shipment today, the boss said the robot's in the back waiting for you. So, quit laughing at me and get on it."

She radioed back to him sounding slightly agitated, though she was trying not to let it show.

 _God revenge is sweet._

"I know you hate me but that's why you need to do your job, I'm doing mine after all. I'll swing by and grab the _AN-I-MA-TRON-IC,_ box when I get myself situated."

Rick's Walkie Talkie clicked as a confirmation, but no response came through. Nyla ignored it and kept walking down the hall towards Ennard's gallery. When she exited the long, colorful hallway, she entered the open dinning area. Pausing to look at his stage. Ennard was leaning forward, hunched over appearing deactivated. But they both new very well he was only pretending… She walked towards the parts and service room with her keys in hand, about to unlock the door when she whispered to him playfully.

"Hey… Ennard… I'm here. You want to have some fun!? I brought some goodies for both of us."

 _Well it's about time she got here!_ He thought happily.

He perked up as soon as he heard Nyla's voice. One of his eyes shot open to reveal his silver-blue irises, looking in her direction. Then the other followed to make sure it was safe to do so. She didn't seem to notice him looking at her, considering she was trying to unlock the door to the parts and service room. He knew it was safe to come alive, finally, he slowly straightened up. Stretching and rolling his mechanical neck round and round loosening the tense mechanical wires that lay beneath his suit.

 _Much better._

"On my way, Ny." He whispered back as he slowly descended the stage with a bounce in his step, and a bright smile on his faceplate.

Nyla opened the door and placed her tool bag in the middle of the floor while Ennard followed in behind her. He walked around her and plopped himself in front of her bag like an anxious kid waiting to see what kind of goodies she brought. Nyla couldn't restrain her smile as she knelt down in front of her bag and began rummaging through it, pulling out her belongings.

"Alright, I brought a box of popcorn" She put the box beside her bag. "and I also brought my Walkman. That way we can have something to snack on and something to entertain both of us." She said zipping up her bag and placing the device in front of the entertainer.

Ennard kept admiring the portable radio and picked it up off of the floor.

"Why on earth do they call it a Walkman?" He asked quizzically.

*picking up the popcorn box, standing back up struggling to open the box* "I… ehh… don't know myself. I argh… think it may have to do with… *turning red, going cross eyed and getting angry with the box* geez what did the manufactures do? Put glue on this thing? *stops trying to open the box so she could explain what she thought*". Ennard looked at her and couldn't help chuckling at her struggles. "Ehh… Anyways, I think it has to do with the actual creator's last name, Walkman. Or my other theory, is that out of the blue someone conveniently mashed the two words together, Walk and Man. Kinda like Turtle-Dove and Chicken-Hawk… But anyway, ta-dah the Walkman was born."

"Funny, perhaps I can assist you my fair lady with the square shaped object, defined as the box?" Sounding quite classy.

"Pfft… Knock yourself out."

Ennard traded her the portable radio for the box of popcorn. Ennard simply observed the box, flipping it over and over searching for an opening. Without further ado he found small incisions or slits in the side of the box that appeared to be creased and bent. Obviously, where she was struggling to break into. Like a letter opener, he used his mechanical fingers to puncture and flip the boxes, cardboard lid open. He felt that he had triumphed; he won the battle between him and the box and handed the box back to her. Unfortunately, she did not concede defeat well and left him hanging, box still in hand. She couldn't help but look at him in surprise.

"I loosened the top for ya." A sigh filled the room while she folded her arms and rolled her eyes, not impressed.

"Uh huh sure." Ennard couldn't help but to smugly grin and tease her. He had a right to he felt proud of himself.

Nyla couldn't help it either, his humor was rubbing off on her. She jokingly returned the smile and bent over to teasingly swat his hat off to the side of his face.

"Well, since your mister muscles why don't you go pop the popcorn hmm?" She mocked him teasingly.

"If that's another challenge then I accept."

Ennard stood up tall. Fixing his hat and popping out his mechanical chest plate, he was feeling proud of himself. He began to walk passed Nyla, who out of his peripheral vision, could be seen rolling her eyes at him with his ridiculous posture. As he twisted the door knob and slowly cracked the door open, she suddenly rushed to the door after him. She quickly but silently slammed the door shut, preventing him to leave. He couldn't help but look at her with a confused expression on his face plate. He could tell something was up, just by the way she looked up at him. She had this frenzied, worried look in her eyes like she had forgotten to tell him something.

Her voice dropped to an almost inaudible whisper which gave away some concern. "Wait… wait…wait… that reminds me, Rick may be watching the monitors. Ever since I gave him a bit of a jolt earlier, he may be watching. Listen emm… try to be discreet, don't make yourself known by walking in the camera's coverage zones ok? You'll see the infrared light appear on the floor, that's where Rick will be looking, if he is. Try to stay in the shadows, in the blind spots. There's no night vision on the cameras luckily, at least not yet, that's getting installed soon though. Also, as soon as you walk out of here go straight until you reach the first hallway where I walked out of earlier, take a right and head straight again. The kitchen will be on your left."

He inched a little closer to her to whisper back, "Aww thanks for looking out for little ole' me." He teased. "Alright so straight, right, straight, left, watch out for cameras, don't get caught got it…"

They say in unison "and watch out for Rick."

"Alright, seems easy enough. I'll be back in a few." He smiled at her before turning to walk out.

When his back was turned a devious smile crept across her face. Not even half way out the door Ennard felt a light pressure—almost like someone shoved him on the lower back plate. _Nyla,_ He thought with a smug grin. Turns out he was right. Nyla shoved him in the back with her foot playfully as he walked out the room.

"Hurry back ya pain!" She whispered playfully to him and she gently shut the door.

Ennard took one last glimpse behind him and smiled, though he did not move away from the door. He only stood there without moving a mechanical muscle. When the door knob locked into place, he took a step back to rest his back against the now shut door embracing… everything he was feeling.

 _So, this is what friendship is like. Heh I could get used to this._ He thought with a blissful smile on his face, starting his journey to the kitchen.

Like a thief in the night, Ennard traversed the room. Silent stepping and peeking around every corner, searching.

 _So far so good… almost there._

Every twist, turn, and corner required Ennard to check for camera's and their infrared light, which would've shone on the floor if Rick was paying attention. It was a bit unnerving for Ennard to creep around the place, considering he had never been off his stage until tonight, and some of the surroundings were still new to him.

 _Still nothing, which means… Rick isn't doing his job._ He thought looking up at one of the cameras glossy lenses.

However, half way to his destination he realized something.

 _Uh oh..._

He doesn't know how to make popcorn. Just as he realized this, he looked back at the parts and service room with a worried expression and noticed that Nyla was leaving the room; the door was wide open.

 _Great… Should I try and find her and ask her how to make the popcorn? Or… No, don't bug her she's working and worse goes to worse if Rick catches me, or me with her…_

He thought about the severity of his situation with much concern, then he turned back around to admire the packaging in his mechanical hand. He stared at it for a moment then turned his gaze up to the lettering near the ceiling, KITCHEN. His eyes closed, his grip tightened, his chest extended as he inhaled a deep breath. Letting out the oxygen intake, his eyes opened revealing a serious and confident expression.

"Hmph… No… I can do this. After all, how hard can this actually be… right?"

He clinched his white fists even tighter and walked into the kitchen like a brave soul walking into the battlefield. Once inside he looked around, searching for a place to sit the box down. On his right was a camera, luckily, for him it was malfunctioning. He didn't even notice it until he looked up. A sudden pang of fear ran down his metallic spine and he froze. The fear didn't last long though when realized the camera was disabled; there were small bright sparks that appeared to be coming out of the device. Ennard sighed with relief as he realized he had not been detected. He walked in a little further and spotted a stainless-steel table with a microwave on it. He looked down at the cardboard box in his hands and noticed the same shape and design was imprinted on the packaging. Perhaps the device he discovered could be of some use.

* * *

Meanwhile, Nyla got to work. She left the parts and service room to fetch the new animatronic that got shipped to the pizzeria earlier during the day time. She hadn't notice Ennard standing in the room earlier since he blended in well with the shadows. Perhaps a little too well though… She walked down the hall, the same hallway she had exited earlier after frightening Rick, playing _Corey Hart: "Sun glasses at night"_ on her Walkman. The song was addicting, and she couldn't help but to mimic the lyrics while she walked down the hall. Beautifully but yet so hauntingly her vocals resonated off the walls, making her way to the shipment room.

 _"I wear my sunglasses at night, so I can so I can watch you weave then breathe your story lines and I wear my sunglasses at night, so I can, so I can keep track of the vis-"_ She arrived at the shipment room and opened the door still singing, until her device sounded cutting her off. It was Rick without a doubt, but for some reason he sounded concerned, which was unlike him. He never took his Night watching abilities seriously. She paused her song to listen, not like she was interested in hearing what he had to belly ache about now.

"Ugh… Nyla… What are you doing and is tha-?" She cut him off abruptly.

"Gee, I don't know what does it _look_ like I'm doin'?" Sounding a bit snide.

Rick threw his Newspaper down on the desk and quickly scrolled through the cameras searching for Nyla.

 _CAM 09, CAM 11 (Kitchen: Audio Only) CAM 06:There you are._

Nyla stared into the camera above her with her head cocked and her arms folded across her chest looking quite unamused with her annoying coworker. Her device chimed again with Rick returning with a snide response.

"Mhmm… I see your staring into the camera when you should be _working_ … Just another childish tactic like earlier to make my skin crawl, it aint working Nyla, at least not this time… The only reason I contacted you was because I kept hearing music and voices coming from down the halls… I couldn't tell if that was you or not. But at least now you can't report to our employer that I'm not doing my job because… you're not even doing your own…"

Nyla, with her dark scowl, just stared at the camera, purposely wishing she could personally reach in and strangle Rick, or better yet give him the number one finger salute.

 _Now you decide to do your job._ She thought.

Instead she flicked the Walkie Talkie's _talk_ button on, still staring into the camera, responding back to the lazy oaf in a careless tone. "Oh yeah, and I can see you just decided to start your nightly duties at, shew… Midnight… Obviously, I interrupted your reading session by playing my music a little too loud, otherwise you wouldn't have rung my bell…" She paused. "Listen I got a lot of _work_ that I need to get done tonight bub and I don't need any more distractions from you or-" She caught herself. "anything else really." Rick didn't even bother to listen to half of Nyla's response. He propped his feet back up on the desk oblivious to the world around him, reading his nightly Newspaper. "Not that you would care, but I brought my Walkman so I could have something to keep me going through the night while I work on this new animatronic… So, don't be hypocritical and belittle me because _you_ also did the same damn thing… you brought something to read. And if you'll excuse me, I would like to get back to _my_ _nightly duties_ if that's alright with you?"

The flicking sound of his Newspaper could be heard over the devices channel. "Yeah yeah yeah whatever… carry on. Do whatever it is you do…" She just rolled her eyes at the camera and turned back around. Unpausing her music she got back to work, knowing he wasn't doing his own.

 _"May I captain Gestapo…?_ She thought, putting on her gloves, readying herself to move the animatronic crates off the shelves.

 _Don't switch the blade on the guy in shades oh no don't masquerade with the guy in shades oh no I can't believe it! Cause you got it bad with the guy in shades oh no!_

"Argh…mmmph… Heavy, heavy, heavy," Was all she muttered, straining to place one out of three crate-boxes she had reached for from the shelf, onto the floor.

The first box must have been at least 60 pounds, a little more than what Nyla could usually carry. When she sat the box down, as gently as possible and stood back up, slowly everything began to turn black. Stars and bright lights was all that could be seen and she had to take a moment to rest on the box. She held her head in her hands, starring at the floor, thinking, how was she going to get the boxes back to the parts and service room?

 _If Ennard was here he would show me up again._ She chuckled softly at the thought. _But right now… I actually could use the extra help._

Nyla looked up from her hands and peered down the hallway.

 _I guess it's a straight shot to the parts and service room… Mmm… Might as well just stack the boxes on the floor and scoot them down the hall to the room. Rick will probably blow up my Walkie Talkie, shuffling past his office with the boxes, but ya know, its whatever. Yeah, why the hell not!?_ _I'm working my ass off, he's not, and h_ _e isn't lending a hand. Might as well..._

Nyla made up her mind and got up from sitting on the box. Dusting her hands off, she returned to the shelf and one by one, she placed the rest of the wooden and cardboards crates on the floor. Once she finished aligning the boxes, she shimmied far behind the largest box that she struggled with. Pushing off the wall with her feet, back against the wooden box, she had to use her whole body to move it at an angle, that way it would be easier to maneuver it on the frictionless floor. Every step she took resulted in less torque and less strain on her. However, it was kind of comical while she pushed the crates considering, her voice grew louder, more off key, and every other word sung received more emphasis than the other. So much for having a haunting voice while working…

She gritted her teeth, small beads of perspiration formed on her forehead while she moved the boxes passed Ricks office. With a breathy voice she sang " _While she's de-cei-ving… me…It cuts… my security."_ She huffed and puffed. " _She got con-trol of me_ … "Almost there" _. I turn to her and say_ … _Don't switch the blade…_ _on the guy… in… shades oh no… Don't masquerade with the guy in shades oh no… I can't believe it!"_ "Ahh geez…"

Fatigue set in just in time and she returned to the parts and service room with about 290 pounds of animatronic parts. She wasn't in a rush to open the door to the vacant room. Instead she went to the east wall and slowly slide down and kicked her legs out in front of her. Sitting on the cold tile felt nice, but it was most pleasantly felt on her hands, considering all the blood rushed to them shoving the boxes down the long hallway.

 _Thank God that's over with, at least for now it is…_

After about 2 minutes of rest she stood back up, not wanting to, honestly, and pushed the boxes inside the dark room.

* * *

After three failed burnt popcorn attempts Ennard finally understood how to use the microwave. There was a rapid chiming that sounded like metallic bells; the timer for the microwave sounded off and startled him. He rapidly pressed the button on the microwave trying to mute the sound. Once the ringing stopped Ennard leaned back peering his head down towards the duel hallways with a worried expression, hoping Rick hadn't heard him.

 _Uh oh…_ He held his breath and listened for footsteps, the pivoting of cameras, something… anything that seemed abnormal.

Luckily for him nothing happened, he was fine to continue.

He resumed what he was doing and silently opened the miniature door to the microwave. Inside, he grabbed the perfectly popped bag of popcorn, then quietly shut it up. The warmth from the bag transferred to his mechanical hands, warming them. Steam rose from the small slit in the bag. As he breathed in the sweet, sweet scent of popcorn, his plastic chest plate rose and fell softly. The aroma of the bag of popcorn tripped Ennards built in artificial olfactory sensors, sending wonderful signals to his processor and databanks, storing the new aroma in his memory. Ennard opened the bag almost shoving his whole face into it.

"Gah that smells… so… good."

 _Maybe I'll snack on a few on the way?_

Ennard left the kitchen and walked down the hall to the parts and service room. On his way, he picked up a small piece of popcorn, observing its fluffy whitish yellow flesh with the remains still clinging to its outer shell. Plopping it into his mechanical mouth, he broke his stride for a moment to take in the flavor, piercing his lower faceplate together pondering what he had just taken in.

His plastic eyebrows rose in surprise, muttering to himself, looking down into the warm bag, still steaming hot. "Not bad… I'll only have a couple more."

Ennard resumed his stride to the parts and service room scarfing down a handful of popcorn. Retracing his steps to the room still on the lookout for cameras, he could hear a rhythmic sound rising to a crescendo as he approached. After Ennard passed the first and second hallway and turned left, the rhythmic sound was louder. He stopped and stood still in front of the door for a moment, listening. It was coming from behind the door. At the door, he stood for another moment listening to the sounds coming from behind the door. He could just barely make out what sounded like a faint female's vocals being over powered by a mans vocals. He popped another piece of popcorn into his mouth, gained his confidence, reached for the knob to open the door skeptical of what he'd walk into. What he found seemed to have surprised him. His eyes widened, his plastic eyebrows rose, his jaw dropped slightly and out came the piece of popcorn that was in his mouth earlier onto the red and black tiled floor. He just stood there dumbstruck, staring.

Epic cliff hanger! This is part 1 of chapter 2. Chapter 3 will be part 2 of Chapter 2! Hope that makes sense! Enjoy. Still working on Part 2 will have it done soon! Hang in there!


	3. Chapter 3

Halestorm—New Modern Love

I've got a forbidden love I'm not giving it up  
Not giving it up  
I've got a new modern love I'm not giving it up  
Not giving it up

I won't pretend that I don't feel the way I feel  
I can't forget the taste of something that's real  
Step into my closet and maybe you'll find something that'll scare you something that you like  
Your old familiar logic is poison on your lips  
It's nothing in the water that's just the way it is

I've got a forbidden love I'm not giving it up  
Not giving it up  
I've got an uncommon love I'm not giving it up  
Not giving it up  
I don't care if you don't want it 'Cause I, I got it  
I don't care if you don't get it 'Cause I, I still want it  
I've got a new modern love I'm not giving it up  
Not giving it up, no

You can't rewire these circuits any other way  
Yeah, you can twist the signal the message is the same  
Step out of your bubble and maybe you will find something that'll save you something that you like  
Your old familiar logic is poison on your lips  
There's nothing in the water that's just the way it is

Step into my closet and maybe you will find something that'll scare you something that you like  
There's something that you like

I don't care if you don't want it 'Cause I, I got it  
I don't care if you don't get it 'Cause I, I still want it  
I've got a new modern love  
I'm not giving it up  
Not giving it up, no

Chapter 3: New Modern Love _Part 2_

 _Authors Note: "I liiiiiiiiiiive-ah" ~Gaige (Borderlands 2 character). Indeed, I have returned, and I apologize for not updating my fanfic. I needed a much needed vaca from school cause… well I mean all yall know how school is, the never-ending homework, tests, finals, hell-I-I mean fun, lots of fun fun fun... Anyways, since, all y'all have been waiting patiently for a couple of months for the continuation of the story, I decided to make it a little longer! Plus, I'm gonna try and create chapter 4 before I get too busy with… school. It is approaching, YAY! So, stop reading my horrible monologue or is it dialogue…? Anyways, I'll shut up,_ _you_ _, go read, go now before Gaige's robot, Deathtrap blows something up or lights something on fire!_

It was as if time stood still. Ennard watched in awe, frozen, like he was in a trance. Paralyzed from the neck down by the sound of her haunting vocals, and the way she rhythmically flowed with the music. Apparently, the only functional body part were his eyes, which tracked her movements as she worked on what appeared to be another animatronic. Intently, Ennard watched with much curiosity as she strutted over to her tool bag. Mimicking lyrically, and rhythmically flowing to the sound of the walking bass in Michael Jacksons _Billie Jean._

 _"_ _She told me her name was Billie Jean, as she caused a scene. Then every head turned with eyes that dreamed of being the one. Who will dance on the floor in the round,"_

He watched closely, her ability to keep the beat of the music was quite astounding as she rummaged through her tool bag. Obviously, he knew that she required the right tool for the job.

A quick zip of her bag, it shut, and she was back on her feet. She tossed the newly acquired tool, with the appearance of a wrench, in the air with style while she strutted back over to the lifeless machine. Slowly the wrench was laid beside the machine. It was as if she didn't want to disturb its mechanical slumber. " _People always told me be careful of what you do_ ". The music was building up by the second as she took two small gracefully steps back. " _And don't go around breaking young girls' hearts_ ". The sounds of the pre-chorus were rising, intensifying and so was Nyla's posture. " _And mother always told me be careful of who you love_ " _._ Her right foot moved gracefully behind her, skimming the cold reflection less concrete, leaving her front leg bent and alone. " _And be careful of what you do_ " She extended her arms out elegantly, then quickly brought them up close to her chest. " _'_ _cause the lie becomes the truth_ _hey yeah_ ". Her hands rested on top of the other, dainty and delicately as ever while pushed off the floor with her back leg. " _Billie Jean is not my lover_. _She's just a girl who claims that I am the one…_ "

It was exhilarating for Ennard to watch Nyla dance so majestically. Just the sight and sound of her made his reality begin to slow down, he had never seen or heard anything so breath taking before.

During her performance, he could not help but make note of some things about her. To his surprise, there were some interesting qualities to her that he never picked up on before. He noticed as she danced her eyes appeared shut most of the time, which he found quite… strange. He brushed off the thought then became aware of another as Nyla was nearing an object on the concrete floor, eyes still closed. He couldn't yell due to his state; he could only hold his breath and watch, like a person strapped into a seat forced to watch a horror film or on an endless thrill ride.

Someway—somehow, no matter how close she came to the object, Nyla never bit it, she never stumbled, no, not once. Unconsciously, Ennards breathing began to regulate once again, quietly, sounding quite relieved. He thought to himself, _she always seems to recognize where she is, but how? Especially, with all this equipment… lying around?_ Animatronic parts littered the floor; nuts, bolts, joint pieces, springlocks you name it, it was there; parts were scattered across the floor here and there, but Nyla's stride was never broken as she danced around theme. With much fascination and surprise Ennard thought, _it's like she has the room lay out in her mind. Or maybe… its something else… Maybe, she counts the steps she has taken, therefore allowing her to recognize her surroundings? Perhaps… very intriguing might I say…_ He made another mental note and continued his observations.

Surely, there were other important qualities to Nyla that Ennard never picked up on before, but the one quality that really caught his eye, was her petite athletic frame. He didn't understand why. He only knew it was a quality to her that he seemed to fancy.

Just thinking about her, deep down Ennard began to feel a fluctuation, an increase in temperature within his systems. The warmth flowed in between his circuitry, his servos, and through the crevasses of his endoskeleton, just beneath the surface of his white and red animatronic suit. Though, most of the heat traversed to his face plate the more he thought about her, almost as if he were… blushing.

The rising temperature didn't hurt, there was no pain to be felt. The warmth was… comforting, welcoming, inviting. His CPU and processer on the other hand, didn't enjoy the subtle increase. Instead it worked frantically analyzing the rise in temperature with possible strategies of cooling his systems, but he chose to ignore it. He wanted to welcome the warmth, let it roam free and consume him.

He clung to the feeling for as long as he could until a strange sensation followed up in the left side of his chest, which utterly distracted him from his thoughts, with its own sort of rhythm that could be felt and heard, internally. The gentle feeling was foreign, and his CPU ran rampant calculating possibilities trying to find solutions of the cause. Binary flooded through his processor and many results were elicited: a vibration, a tremor, a hum…

No, all solutions formed were invalid. The feeling was more of a slow subtle pulse, a beat… _thump thump… thump thump…_

 _Snap out of it Ennard… But, w-what is this sensation, this… feeling?_

He began to wonder why his scan didn't pick up on these qualities last night, both on his own persona and Nyla's as well, when he first awoke and became sentient—aware.

His thoughts and diagnosis were interrupted shortly after Nyla returned to her starting position again, readying herself to twirl again. Overall, her movements seemed to be identical as the first go around, although, instead of leaving the wrench by the animatronic, she held it while she danced. " _She came and stood right by me"._ Two small steps were taken back just like the last time. " _then the smell of sweet perfume"._ She was off. " _this happened much too soon"_

As Ennard observed her twirl again, he caught a glimpse of something… something he did not expect to see in the darkness surrounding him. Beautiful dark golden-brown irises slowly opened to return his gaze in the dimly lit room as she twirled. Her hazel eyes met Ennards and a shriek filled the room, followed by some colorful phrases.

"GAH… DAMNIT!" She startled in mid twirl, now fully aware of Ennards presence.

Within those few seconds of sheer panic, Nyla became aware of another worry. There was no wrench in hand.

 _Shit…_

She realized she lost her grip on her wrench and covered her head not knowing where the wrench would hit, bracing for a painful impact.

Luckily for her she was fine, but the animatronic on the other hand… not so much. The wrench hit the animatronics skull with a loud metallic 'thunk', which seemed to resonate off the walls.

Not even a second had passed and there was a 'clinking' sound that probably came from the wrench, which finally fell to the concrete floor. Nyla uncovered her head realizing she was now safe and looked back at the animatronic with an 'oh crap' expression. She was wide eyed, it was like watching a car crash happen in slow motion. All her hard work on the animatronic fell in reverse, unfolding before her eyes. The lifeless machine let out a groan of metal on metal, filling the room with its eerie sound as it stiffly fell backwards on the workbench, resulting in a startling crash. She couldn't help but watch helplessly, still too shocked to move due to the incident that transpired with a certain someone.

It was like she was not down to earth at the moment…

Not even two seconds had passed after the crash, and Rick was already ringing her bell again. Her hand-held device chimed but she didn't pick up at first, still wandering somewhere else at the moment.

"Nyla what the hell was that!?" Rick sounded like he was shouting into the device since he overpowered its mic.

She could feel her heart rate dropping back to its normal resting beat as she regained her composure. Reality slowly set back in when she realized the severity in Ricks tone when he contacted her, he was about to blow his lid. She quickly paused her Walkman and grabbed her hand-held device off the workbench.

"Nyla… Nyla answer me if your there!? Otherwise I'm…" She cut him off.

"Y-Yeah, I-I'm fine…" Still sounding a bit shaken.

"What the hell was that Nyla? Sounded like a God damn bomb went off." He asked with a sterner voice.

Nyla took the easy road out and thought up a little white lie. _What he doesn't know won't kill him, he doesn't need to know..._ She thought. She gained her confidence and returned to her normal sarcastic self, "Trust me if it was a bomb, I would know where to locate the source-" He cut her off.

"Oh yeah? And… how is that Nyla? Actually, allow me to answer for you, considering you can't do that on your own." He knew she must have been referring to him, somehow, and he jumped the gun. That's why he spoke to her in such a condescending tone. "Thinking is very dangerous for people like yourself, that's why you have this mindless job of repetition. You never learn…" He stated rather harshly with a sinister tone.

She yawned into the hand-held device, "If your done with your monologue now… I would like to get on with this 'being a jackass session to Nyla' here, so if you don't mind hurrying up with your senseless jargon that would be great, hun." Nothing that Rick said fazed her. She'd been burned so many times by coworker's animosity towards her that she felt numb; she didn't care.

Things escalated quickly and Rick didn't take her careless attitude lightly, "Your nothing but a cur Nyla! A low-class, worthless, working low-life that is stuck here working at Fazebears Sister Location permanently subdued to-" She cut him off abruptly.

 _Oh it's go time!_

"Woah… woah… woah… hold the phone. Let's see… If I'm rationalizing this situation correctly, your suggesting that the only way I would now how to locate the source of an explosive, perchance there was a bomb in the building, is if I were a dog? Yeah, that sounds a lot like me… actually yeah why the hell not, every sense in my body would be amplified, smell, touch, taste, sight, and sound. At least that way I could snuff it out."

"Okay… I'm just going to stop you right there. How the hell did you get all of… that out of me calling you a cur? And answer me damnit! What the hell was that noise Nyla!?" Sounding quite bemused and angry how their argument went on a tangent.

"Hmmm, let me think, what was that thing that a certain someone said earlier…? Oh, what was it…?" She snapped her fingers. "Oh yeah now I remember, 'I can't think on my own' and its 'dangerous'. Not only that but 'I never learn'. Those words sound like they came from someone… special" She let out a small chuckle "Wake up sweetheart, I just beat you at your own game, also your forgetting I'm an engineer. Now, allow me to put my lingo into simpler terms for you so your small mind can comprehend… I'm a 'grease monkey', sound familiar Rick?" Feeling very confident that she caught Rick with his hand in the cookie jar, so to speak.

Rick grumbled and huffed something inaudible into the handheld device.

"Sorry can't hear you choking on your own words of wisdom, if that's what it's called… Anyway, on a more serious note, the sound you heard was the animatronic toppling over. Found a damn rat snuggling in my tool bag. Long story short, it lunged at me as I was reaching for my tools, it made me jump and I slammed into the workbench. I think the rest, you can figure out…" She lied with a dripping knife of hatred towards her coworker.

Rick clicked twice conveying that he got the message.

"Oh, and one other thing… I would be able to locate the 'bomb' simply by the sound of your man-card leaving your vocal cords, just like earlier when you screamed at me." She suppressed a smile feeling that she'd been devilishly clever choosing her words.

Everything went silent in the parts and service room and Rick didn't even bother to pick another fight after Nyla's final comment. She sighed over such a pointless argument with her coworker. _So much of that time wasted, on_ _him_. Her hand-held device laid beside her while she rested against the workbench; her face rested in the palms of her hands. There was another short lived silence before she spoke with a muffled tone.

"Tangents…" She sighed then realizing she had forgotten about a little someone still standing a few beyond the threshold.

 _Shit… Ennard._ She thought.

She quickly looked up from her hands and whirled around to see Ennard, still standing there with the same stupid expression of pure shock plastered on his face plate.

 _Did he deactivate himself? No, no that's not it, if he did he would've returned to the stage just like it said in the blueprint. Maybe his servos locked up when he saw me-?_ It was like a light bulb went off at the top of Nyla's head; she realized why Ennard was frozen.

She walked out, just feet beyond the parts and service room and whispered to him.

"Uh… Ennard y-you ok?" With some concern in her voice.

He didn't reply. So, she stepped closer towards him and finally his eyes made contact with hers.

She waved her hand in front of his eyes, but there was still no activity.

"Ennard? Earth to Ennard? You in there?" She whispered snapping her fingers in front of his eyes trying to snap him out of his trance.

Nyla eventually was able to get a flinch from Ennard and something else…

"I-I-I." He seemed to have been stuck in a loop because that's all he managed to say.

Nyla decided it was time to have a little bit of fun with Ennard and tried to guess what he was trying to say.

"Let's play what is Ennard trying to say next, shall we? Let's see… I've… forgotten how to use my legs? I'm… standing here like a creepy creeper in a semi lit room with my mouth open like a mouth breather starring at a 'grease monkey' because I can? I'm… standing here like an idiot because I accidently downloaded a virus into my hardware systems which has temporarily disabled my mobility, and I require assistance from little o'le Nyla?" She said mocked teasingly. A few minutes had pasted with several mock questions left unanswered and Nyla finally gave up. "Okay I'm actually out of 'I' questions and I'm getting bored. Ennard, spit it out, c'mon." She said sternly.

Without any filter Ennard blurted out to her, "That was freakin' beautiful!"

Nyla was quite taken back by his comment and it took her a moment to process the words that just came out of his mouth. It surprised her indefinitely and silence filled the room.

Slowly, Ennard finally fell back down to earth but after that subtle outburst, reality hit him like a truck. He finally realized and remembered what he had just said and felt slightly embarrassed. Surprisingly, so was Nyla but she tried to hide the flush that was slowly creeping along her face by hanging her head down low.

"Just out of curiosity… eh…" She let out a nervous cough. "How much of that did you see and…and hear? Minus Rick and I arguing?" She felt the heat leaving her face and regained her confidence to look him in the eyes.

Ennard felt Nyla's hazel eyes meeting his own and he stared deeply into them.

 _God her eyes are gorgeous in this light. Wait what!? Why did I just think that!? Snap out of it, think, think, think how long was I here?_

Ennard thought long and hard but there was nothing to recall. He couldn't help it he didn't know how long he was standing there; he lost all track of time stopping, staring and listening to her beautiful voice. Their connection was broken shortly after Ennard looked away, nervously searching for an escape. Fortunately, he was able to dodge Nyla's question, he remembered the bag of popcorn she sent him to cook not too long ago. Nervously, he put his hand behind his neck and offered her the bag, which was still slightly warm.

"I-I… ugh… pop-popcorn?" He handed the bag over to her plastering on a convincing smile on his face, even though it was obvious, he was nervous around her.

 _Oh, I'm so screwed._ He thought.

She folded her arms across her chest and let out a small chuckle.

 _Please forget, please forget, please…_ He thought pleadingly.

"Come on back inside, I need to take a break from this animatronic; I've been working on him for quite some time and I'm just kinda banging my head against a wall assembling him."

 _Wait I dodged a bullet and lived? Or have I been tricked and she's going to interrogate me inside by slowly dissembling me? Ok that sounded...morbid maybe she won't do that last part, I hope, but maybe she'll ask again inside?_ He mentally wondered somewhat worried.

Before she turned to walk back into the parts and service room, she reached in the popcorn bag and pulled out a handful of popcorn.

"Good popcorn. Not bad for your first time making it." She said walking away from him.

 _So… she did do that intentionally...? Was she testing me?_ He thought.

Just before she entered the room, she turned around with a confused expression, wondering why he was taking 40 years to move. She gestured for him to follow, but he stood in place.

Surely Ennard's torso was snapped back into reality, online, but his legs were still offline. He just glanced down at his feet then back up at her with a strange look.

Nyla noticed his strange expression and leaned up against the threshold, eating a few pieces of popcorn, waiting.

"Soooo... Did your servos lock up or somethin'?" She said bemused.

"Me… Pfft no just… just… ugh… di-I-I… I was thinking of going back to ugh… the kitchen" he looked down into the popcorn bag. "…and getting more butter spread for the popcorn." He said sheepishly. "Yeah, the popcorn needs more exotic butter."

"Uh huh… and… you do realize you have a button for dispensing butter, right? You don't need to walk all the way over to the kitchen." Nyla said feeling very bold calling his bluff.

"I know…" He answered quickly. "I'm just… out of butter to dispense, need to refill ya know." He lied. "You don't have to wait for me go…go on ahead I'm right behind you." He gave her a weak smile.

She squinted her eyes at him, suspiciously.

"Aaaaallllright." Emphasizing the 'al' before leaving him alone in his gallery.

Just as Nyla disappeared from sight into the parts and service room, his legs buckled. The spring-locks, which joined his knees to his lower calve together unwound, causing him to fall on his hands and knees on the cold checkered floor. Luckily for him he hit the floor with his good hand otherwise he would have lost the popcorn using the other.

 _Mmmmk that could have gone down a lot smoother, falling and Nyla._

He quickly looked up worried, and strangely that same thumping sound from earlier returned, but instead of feeling it, he heard it running in his ears. Unfortunately, he had other problems to worry about right now and he tried to just ignore the sound. A few moments past and Nyla never came out of her dark work room.

 _What a relief…_

 _I should probably wait here a little longer, that way she thinks that I went to the kitchen and came back with the butter._

* * *

Nyla was waiting for Ennard to return with the popcorn and the so called 'exotic butter spread', that way they can sit and chat for a little while until her breaks up.

A few minutes passed and Ennard decided enough time has passed and it was time to get up.

Ennard slowly rose with one leg underneath his robotic chest, like a runner would before taking off, his other leg trailing behind the other. His stability still wasn't all there from the spring lock failure, considering his legs trembled softly. He brushed against the wall closest to him using his robotic fingers for support, walking to the door.

As he stepped into the room Nyla could not help but snicker as Ennard passed by her with his goofy 'stride'. She closed the door behind her, locking it. She turned around seeing Ennard sitting on the secondary workbench, the one they spent most of the previous night talking. He sat with his legs crossed in front of him, shoving a handful of popcorn into his mouth, probably trying to drown out and forget the awkward comment earlier. She approached him and he glanced up giving her a toothless, popcorn stuffed smile. She shook her head smiling, hoisting herself up onto the workbench.

"Please… don't get choked. I don't know how the Heimlich maneuver would work on an animatronic." She mocked, giving him a small smile.

Ennard returned the smile "Mmmm… I ain't ganna gek 'hoked." It was kind of difficult to understand him when he had his mouth stuffed with popcorn.

Nyla just gave him the 'uh huh sure-yeah right face' then proceeded to smile at him awkwardly. He noticed this, which made his smile widen even more causing him to lose some of the popcorn in his mouth.

"Eww, my word Ennard… It's called chewing… Chew, chew then swallow. Not hold the food in your mouth and smile." She jokingly chortled, causing him to do the same, losing a few more pieces of popcorn.

He finally did as she requested and offered her the bag.

"There better? Popcorn?" He offered sweetly.

"Nah, I think I'm good for now. I still have your ugh… smile burned in the back of my mind" She teased.

Ennard moved the bag closer to her face, jiggling it in temptation.

"Ennard, I'm really good, thanks anyway. I need to scrub my brain clean to remove that image" She smiled at him pushing the bag away gently.

He didn't listen though. He jiggled the bag again inching it closer, to where it lay just beneath her nose.

Her face went blank, almost serious, obviously trying to suppress her smile.

He moved a little closer and leaned in whispering into her ear. "Listen I'm not trying to be 'corny' here, but are you suuurrrre you don't want any of this… finger-licking, mouthwatering, scrumptious, soft and chewy, salty, artificially flavored cheddar cheese… pop-corn?" He emphasized the 'p' giving it a 'pop' sound, tempting her.

She turned her head to face him with a playful 'I hate you' expression. He just blinked and stuck his tongue out at her.

"Corny…? Really…? You really had to use _that_ pun? Listen I'm not trying to 'pop' your bubble but ugh… that one is a little old." She chortled at her own pun.

"Aww c'mon I thought it was a good popcorn joke." He whined.

"Mmmm hmmm" She rolled her eyes deadpanning in disagreement.

"Well then… I think the kids would agree with me that it was a good joke." He assured himself and his argument.

"And why is that…?" She inched closer to his face.

Ennard did the same and put on a smug grin.

 _I got her now!_

"Cause I'm the one and only 'pop'ular animatronic at this establishment."

Ennard was confident that he now one the pun battle considering Nyla went wide eyed. Obviously, she didn't have another pun at the moment.

"Damnit… I don't have… y-you… damnit you win." She rolled her eyes and backed away conceding defeat. She reached into the bag, giving in to his temptation. "You're so evil and I'm gonna get'cha back one of these nights"

He let out a small victory chuckle while he returned to his normal sitting position on the workbench, and they both proceeded to eat in silence.

All was quiet between them.

* * *

About ten minutes later of eating popcorn in silence Ennard decided to break the silence between them.

He turned his head to look at her "I can tell your deep in thought about something, everything ok?"

With tired eyes she looked at him, not realizing she was staring off into space, "Hmmm, yeah, I mean no…" She rubbed her eyes. "sorry I'm just starting to get tired. Second night on the job ya know and dumby me forgot my portable coffee maker at my apartment… and dancing kind of takes it out of ya. Kind of a double whammy." She yawned, folding her arms, leaning against the wall.

A small pause filled the room and Ennards gaze was still on Nyla.

"I-I have to ask, how did you learn how to do that?" Sounding slightly sheepish.

She adjusted her position on the workbench, to where she was sitting Indian style with her elbows resting on her knees and her chin resting in the palms of her hands.

She cocked her head slightly to the side with a questionable expression "Learn to do what, exactly?"

He rubbed the back of his neck as if they were dealing with a touchy topic, "I mean… h-how did you learn how to dance like that?" He croaked. "Ehm… I've never seen anyone move like that before cause well… you know… I just thought what you did was incredible." Ennard sheepishly turned his gaze away from hers, trying to hide the coloring that practically felt like it consumed his face thanks to his compliment.

 _What the hell is wrong with me?_ He internally scolded himself. _Why am I asking so strange? I can't process things; I can't concentrate, I'm glitching or stuttering and… Perhaps Nyla was right, maybe I have contracted a virus. I…_ Ennard's thoughts were abruptly interrupted when a small chortle of disbelief filled the room. Ennard returned Nyla's gaze only to find her with her face in her hands, avoiding his sight, embarrassed by his comment.

"Oh… eh… heh. Well… I uh…" She nervously cleared her throat and looked up from her hands, a little bit of pink remained on her cheeks. "I'm glad you enjoyed the performance but ugh… if I told you how I learned dance you would probably look at me cross eyed." She jokingly reassured.

Ennard saw opportunity to get another laugh out of Nyla, "I won't honest, here, how about this?" He jokingly covered both eyes with one hand and grinned like an idiot. "There, see. Now you can't tell if I'm looking at you cross eyed." He teased lightheartedly removing his hand from his eyes, looking at her.

Nyla let out a gentle laugh, nothing boastful considering she sounded like she was winding down rather quickly as the night progressed.

 _Smartass…_

"Very funny, joker." She sighed. "What I meant to say-" He cut her off.

"Ny, I knew what you meant. Just tell me, how _did_ you learn to dance like that? Is there a secret or something to being that good?"

"Alright, alright Mr. Pushy and… I'll get to the secret here in a minute" He snickered a bit.

"Yes, I am" He said sounding quite smug. "and story time." He practically clapped his hands like a goofy kid.

Nyla rolled her eyes playfully and readjusted her position for story mode. She retired to her first position once again, leaning up against the wall.

Ennard did the same thing cause his legs were getting a bit antsy. This time he was the one sitting Indian style, both leaning forward and intently listening like the night before when she talked about her encounter with the: haunted, rotten, green, 'killer,' animatronic bunny suit.

At first, she appeared to be a bit reluctant to spill the 'secret' to her professional dancing skills, considering she was circling a small area on the workbench with her finger, distracted. Finally, she inhaled and said, "years ago, way back in like 7th grade I took ballet…" She paused as if it was difficult for her to say.

He cocked his head waiting for her to finish, but accidently mumbled an "and" under his breath. It didn't stop her from continuing her story though.

"…and when I say _took_ ballet lessons, I mean… I may have probably, caved due to peer pressure." She made a sputtering sound as she exhaled, it was as if what she had said exhausted her.

 _Probably not a pleasant memory for her to relive, maybe? I need to be more considerate about what I ask of her._ Ennard thought.

"Now that I look back at that, that's probably another stupid thing that I did, not the ballet though that I fairly enjoyed, I think it gave me a bit of grace in my step, I hope…" She sarcastically smiled at him and he returned it. "Giving into peer pressure that was dumb, but I was kid and some kids are not that bright. Anyway, off-track. But-ah... over the years I kind of metamorphosized into a rebel. 'The sisters,' as we were called by our instructors, didn't approve of the music that was hitting the air waves in the 80's and were very strict about what we were and weren't allowed to listen to, which sucked, a lot because ballet music is mainly all orchestral or classical. Aaaaand well let's just say it got old rather quickly."

"So, one day…" Ennard cut her off whispering gently, "I'm willing to bet this is where the rebel peeks its head out." She nodded rapidly like a child who just ate too many chocolate chip cookies, "oh yeah… so, one day, and this was years down the road by the way. I already had my license when I was fifteen, I was driving myself over to the dance studio when this song came on over the airwaves and I was trying to stay 'clean' as the instructors referred to it… I swear it was like 'sacrilegious' to them or somethin,' so stupid." She sounded like an angsty teen air quoting 'sacrilegious' with a hint of sarcasm. "I didn't listen to the entire song, I just listened until I got the name of the song and traversed through the front entrance of the studio with a bounce in my step. Immediately though… I knew I was addicted to the new sound and I wanted more." Ennard elbowed her gently teasing her with overly prolonged 'oh', "ooooooo you disobeyed your teacher person." She gently pushed him back over to his side of the workbench, "hey you would've done the same thing if you were forced to dance to those same stupid songs over, and over, and over again without any new sound, bleh" She replied in a deadpan tone while Ennard chuckled in agreement. "Anyways, continue I want to hear about this rebel child that you speak of" Ennard replied waggling his mechanical eyebrows.

"Where was I… oh yeah, after hearing that same song again over the airwaves a few weeks later, I drove down, right after class, to the nearest record store and bought a cassette tape containing the song that I absolutely fell in _love_ with." She let out a chuckle as she deeply emphasized 'love'. "That's the song that started it all… that song changed me for the better, those instructors didn't know what they were teaching; they were holding me back." She paused shaking her head, disgusted by the thought of talking about them. "It's funny I remember, I was talking with my best-friend Joan about the arts during our lunch break, and she brought to my attention that the song I've been basically gagaing over was actually the soundtrack to the movie, Flashdance. And at the time I was swamped with school, dance, and repair work, I was stretched thin with responsibilities and so was my time. Not only that but the movie was rated R and that was a big 'no no' in my parent's house. So, unfortunately, I couldn't go see the movie, at least, that's what I thought until on my 16th birthday. Joan bless her sweet heart, took me out of school during our lunch period to go see the movie. Not that it wasn't important but Joan was a senior at the time, and I was a sophomore, and being friends with a senior you kinda get some sweet perks, aka you get to leave the campus to go get 'lunch', hurray senior privilege but anyway, tangent. This is where things kind of go south. Both Joan and I arrived at the theater, we got our tickets and snacks and headed to the room to find our seats for the movie, and as we stood at the bottom floor, looking up for a seat… you wouldn't believe who was there."

Ennard furrowed his mechanical brows, looking at her unsure who she might've been referring to. "Who?" He asked bemused. "She was there, my ballet instructor Ms. Chevon…" Disappointment and venom flowed from her own words as she finished her sentence. Ennard sat in silence listening to every word concerned what was about to happen next in Nyla's past. She let out a heavy sigh before continuing, "She was there... in the theatre with us, her eyes were fixed on me the whole time, but I didn't care. I just had to ignore the daggers and death glares that I was receiving from her because it was my birthday and I wanted to spend the only time I could muster with my best friend." She paused looking away with a soft smile plastered on her face.

"She gave me the best birthday gift ever…" She paused again allowing for Ennard to answer. "You mean the movie, right?" He asked unsure. "No, inspiration… After the movie I realized there was much more to dance and I was only scratching the surface solely studying ballet. Not only that but the main character, Alex from the movie, was very moving and inspiring to me and... well… I wanted to be just like her, except in the movie she was a welder and I'm a greas-I-I mean mechanical engineer. But I don't care I love my job because I get to listen to _my_ music and I get to dance when I feel like it without any instruction or criticism from others." She turned her gaze back to Ennard who looked at her with soft eyes and smiled.

"So, what happened between you and Miss, miss, miss-ah Chevron, Cheton, Shiton-" She cut him off with a soft chuckle. "You mean Ms. Chevon?" He snapped his mechanical fingers and pointed at her "Yeah, yeah, yeah her." Nyla shook her head and sat up, readjusting her position. "Welp… the following day right after my birthday, she approached me as I entered the dance studio. Just as I walked through the doors 'The sisters' all stopped and stared at me like they just witnessed a murder, they were just as pale as pale could be, worried probably about me or what would happen to them, I don' know. Ms. Chevon, pulled me over to the side, in her office and shut the door. She gestured for me to sit down and she said to me." She cleared her throat, impersonating her teacher with a fake French accent, 'Bella I'm very disappointed in you. I strongly made it clear on day one, with you and 'the sisters' that no outside source or pop-culture should influence you, and now… you have broken my trust. Not only that but 'the sisters' trust in you as well… People who break the rules—no, people who break _my_ rules in _my_ studio don't receive a second chance to stay… but… but… I will make an exception just this once, only for your sake because you are one of the best-top dancer here in my studio. However, your actions will not go unpunished Bella, there are repercussions in life and quite frankly you are in need of discipline. So, this is my proposal to you in order to earn mine and 'the sisters' trust back. I want you to stay an hour after every class to clean the studio, make preparations for the following classes and…'. Nyla scoffed in her memory and at the thought of hearing her instructors' words ramble out of her own mouth.

"Ahh geez, after she rambled on and on about _her_ 'chores' that she wanted me to do I said, 'Now I'm going to stop you right there Ms. Chevon. First of all, you have no control over me or 'the sisters' outside of the studio and I don't need to give you _any_ explanation about my personal life, that is absolutely _none_ of your business what I was doing in that theatre a few days ago. Second, you contradict yourself in your own argument, _your_ 'rules' _only_ apply in _your_ studio, ergo you have no control over your students outside of it. On that note, if you expect your students to uphold your rules, you need to abide by them as well. Don't try to deny it and be accusatory because you were in that theatre as well. Point one finger and you got three more pointing right back atchya. Third, if I did bring in pop-culture, into your studio then I would've violated the rules that you've set in stone. Therefore, I would be in the wrong… However, since I am being accused of being treasonous towards my fellow 'sisters' and indulging in 'pop-culture' and 'outside influences', I believe that it is time for me to part ways with the sisterhood, especially since I cannot have any control over my own life outside of class… Congratulations Ms. Chevon, you have officially lost your best dancer. Oh, and one other thing before I go, as of now, Bella is no longer my name. The next time you see or hear the words N-Y-L-A, picture me sending you this your way.' As I said that, I flipped her off. Next thing I knew, I was marching myself out of the room, slamming the door shut behind me, and I leaving with the studio with a grin on my face."

Ennard looked at her with his mouth agape and nudged her in the side "Damn, girls got rebel blood and fire!" Nyla nudged him back playfully with a big smile that engulfed most of her face. "Nah stop it, and since when do animatronics swear!?" She giggled which caused Ennards smile to grow "As of now because your memory deserved a dignified 'damn' girl. Gosh…I'm still shocked. So that is really where the name Nyla and your dancing roots originated. I'm still… shocked I just can't get over that." They both smiled at each other, that is until Nyla looked at the time. "It's fun reminiscing about the past but… oh holy shit I need to get back to work, my break time is well over." She admitted descending the workbench with a slight sense of worry in her voice, but her feet didn't even touch the floor. Instead, a white and red glossy arm wrapped around her waist, hoisting her back up gently, returning her to her seat next to him. She didn't realize his arm was around her waist at the time since it happened rather quickly. Ennard knew considering he had a pink tint coursing through his face plate. "Hold up Ny you didn't answer my question yet." There wasn't an instantaneous response, instead she stared blankly at him, trying to recall his question from earlier. "You know, your secret, the one that makes you such a badass dancer?" Ennard realized what he said and chuckled nervously feeling the heat rise in his face once again, so did Nyla who put her head down trying to hide her embarrassment. "Well ugh… I'm not really good with words or explanations…" She started. "but the way I see it, the secret to dancing is a combination of two things." The heat from her face had completely drained and Nyla came face to face with Ennard once again.

She sat and stared at him for a moment before doing something unexpected. Both of her hands stretched out towards him, cupping his head in her hands, sweetly. He was slightly caught off guard by her sudden action, and like instinct his hands wrapped around her wrists gently, his gaze darted back and forth between Nyla's hazel eyes. It was a strange feeling, flesh on makeshift plastic, but he didn't seem to mind; it was a sweet sensation.

 _Her touch is so gentle and so… warm…_ He didn't realize it but slowly he started to melt in her grasp.

"Ennard!?" She snapped.

"Huh what!?"

"Ok so I take it you heard everything I said and can repeat it back to me?" She said in a deadpan tone still holding his head in her hands.

"That'll probably be a problem… Sorry, I ugh… kinda fell off the face of the earth there for a second… I'm back now though, full and undivided attention." He leaned into her hands with a dopey grin, which she also returned and rolled her eyes.

"As I was saying before, I have deduced that the secret to being a ugh… 'badass' dancer, as you call it…" She chuckled softly and felt a slight bit of blush rush through her face. "…is number one, the music, feeling and _hearing_ the emotions within the song." She let go of his face and Ennard retracked slowly, already missing her touch.

 _Please… don't let go…_ He thought feeling a slight sense of sadness wash over him.

"Secondly…" There was a slight pause that filled the air, but there was something warm and electric about it.

Gently, ever so gently, her hand grazed the right side of his plastic chest plate, before opening and resting completely on his side where his heart would be. She couldn't have touched him anymore sweetly than she had done, and yet again Ennard was caught off guard, more so this time than the last.

The sound returned, louder than before, and Ennard swore she could feel the pulse beneath his suit. Ennard was wide eyed for the moment hoping that that she wouldn't ask, what that was.

Luckily, she didn't.

 _Well at least she can't feel what I'm feeling…_ His eyes softened, and he began to relax. Placing his hand over hers, conveying to her that he understood.

"…you need to _feel_ and connect with the emotions you are hearing, and before you know it your movements will come naturally." She smiled at him and he returned it gently letting go of her hand, even though he didn't want to. Her hand slowly found its way back and rested in her lap.

 _Stop acting this way idiot, get a hold of yourself…_ Ennard mentally bashed his head against an imaginary wall.

A few seconds of awkward silence filled the air before Nyla spoke again and Ennard was deep in thought battling his internal voice.

"It's hard to explain in words but-" Just as she was about to finish her sentence Ennard interrupted her sounding a tad nervous.

"Listen Ny, I'm not trying to change the subject… and I know you need to get back to work and I took a _huge_ chunk of your work time away from you" He realized he was rambling and tried to get to the point. "but do you think you could take out a little more time; even if it's just ten minutes from your schedule to danc-sh-show-t-teach me, there we go… to teach me some of what you know?" Ennard internally screamed at himself for acting like such a nervous wreck, but who would blame 'em?

 _It's over now, nice job idiot._

Even though Ennard was internally dying, Nyla didn't mind, she was flattered and actually excited to dance with a partner. However, she did desire something in return for her services considering she was short on time. Her gaze turned towards the somewhat assembled animatronic, more of an assembled shiny metal skeleton than anything else, still lying on the other workbench from the incident earlier. She stared at it for a few seconds before conjuring an idea. Her gaze then shifted back towards Ennard rather quickly causing him to jump a bit by her sudden movement. She tried to convey to him that she was sorry with a soft smile, "Alright my pupil the dancing queen is in the house, er more of a storage-closet-room type-thing… Whatever." She threw her hands up shaking her head because of the mini tangent. "Anyway, since I'm scrap for time and the other animatronic is well… nowhere near ready for showtime tomorrow." She paused looking at him with a somewhat serious expression even though she was trying to suppress her playful sarcasm. "I'm gonna cut ya a deal. I require assistance, in assembling the other animatronic. So, if my pupil, or my lovely assistant would be so kind to help me put together this animatronic quickly, in return I'll show you what I got." She booped his noise and slid off the workbench. "Sound like a good deal?" She turned around with her hands on her hips, waiting for an answer.

 _I don't believe it, she actually didn't say 'no'. Nice work idiot._ Ennard internally grinned ear to ear.

Like a bolt of lightning, Ennard slid off the workbench. Straightening up stiff as a board, he puffed out his chest and saluted his teacher. "Yes, ma'am that's a done deal. I shall be your goofy mechanical apprentice for the night. Just show me what I need to do and..." He leaned over picking up a random limb off the concrete floor. "and maybe I'll lend you a _hand_. Get it…? Hand?" Ennard gave her his signature toothy grin awaiting orders from Nyla whom just gave him a 'really dude?' look.

"Oh boy, so it begins-round two of the cheesy pun battle between mwa and Rudolf the red nosed robo dork over here." She chuckled to herself. "But I will _hand_ it to ya, that was pretty good, much better than the popcorn jokes." He scoffed at her comment, while she took what appeared to be a hand joint that he was _handing_ her (yes even the author jumped in with their pun battle :P). In return she returned his dorky grin for a split second before putting on her work face, and he followed suit. "Alrighty…" She said walking over to the life less metal endoskeleton, resting on the other workbench. "Hey, En can you grab the blueprints, there right next to ya." Ennard reached for the blueprints, sliding his fingers between the two pieces of parchment, unfolding the schematic like a pirate would a map. While Nyla worked on stabilizing the downed endoskeleton.

* * *

*2: 48 A.M*

Audible music resonated in the room, not compared to the sounds that could be heard earlier though; Phil Collins played in the background while they both worked, silently. After Nyla stabilized the metal endoskeleton, she then shifted her attention to the boxes she shuffled in earlier and began to open them, one by one. On the flip side, Ennard kept himself occupied looking through the schematics, reading, and learning about this new entertainer…

"Huh…" he muttered out loud not meaning to.

"What's up?"

Before Nyla could say another word Ennard read the new animatronics description out loud for her to hear. Probably to kill two birds with one stone since he didn't have any work at the moment.

"Funtime Foxy, also formally known as Foxy the Pirate." She stopped to listen. "A Funtime party entertainer for kids and adults alike. Foxy, is equipped with state-of-the-art mechanics, facial recognition, light activation motion sensors, and is programmed with voice sequencers for storytelling and jokes to interact with the audience. All designs and schematics created by _Afton Robotics LLC,_ **unauthorized** **reproduction** of this schematic is prohibited by law and subject to criminal prosecution but that probably won't stop you anyway; all rights reserved; Yada-yada-yada. Well that was... interesting" Ennard laid the schematic down behind the stabilized endoskeleton, glancing over at Nyla who was now scooting an open box filled with animatronic parts towards the workbench. She stopped and asked quizzically, "Can I see the schematic real quick?" He handed her the blue roll of parchment with its measurements and settings tattooed with white ink facing upward, exposed in the dim light. "Wait, where did it mention the animatronics former name?" She scanned the pages furiously searching, only to find instructions for assembly. That is until Ennard stood behind her, to look over her shoulder. His glossy white pointer finger lead her gaze under the poorly dimmed light. "Here." He managed to say, audibly whispering. Ennard pulled away, his hand returning to his side. He took a step back listening to Nyla as she speed read, mumbling the exact words Ennard had also read. "FuntimeFoxy,alsoformallyknownasFoxythePirate. AFuntimeEntertainerforkidsda-deh-da-deh-dah…" She paused and walked over to the box she had just opened and pulled out its contents. Mainly, some screw joints, springlocks, a few pastel pink and white panels, plates, and lots and lots of fur.

"Huh, I remember working on an animatronic named Foxy. In fact, I think he was the first animatronic I ever put together heh but… that was ages ago." She emptied the box placing what she needed beside her on the workbench. Except, before she got started, something caught her eye. "The hell is that?" Unfortunately, she leaned over a little too far and fell into the box.

"Eh-ow" She grunted.

"What's up?" Ennard asked raising an eyebrow quizzically.

"Oh, holy shit! No freakin' way! No freakin' way!" Pink and white statically charged popcorn peanuts stuck to Nyla as she burst out of the box with so much energy. She swiftly spun around with a huge grin on her face, holding two items in hand; one fairly large the other relatively small. An empty pink and white fox head shell was held in her right hand, and a small warn out, rusted circuit board with a hook insignia etched on the face of an animatronic chip, which was loosely gripped in her other hand.

"It is Foxy!" Her face practically lit up the room that's how excited she was, like a kid on Christmas Day.

On the other hand, Ennard returned her ecstatic smile even though it was fake. Surely, he was happy for her, but something deep down inside him felt like it had just been brutally ripped out of him. No not ripped out, more like impaled. Something sharp felt like it had just wounded Ennards chest, like a knife.

 _It… hurts, my whole left side of my chest hurts. Wait what's making me hurt?_

His system initialized a quick scan for injuries.

 _0 injuries sustained, all systems and vitals normal._

Hmm… could it be that Ennard is feeling a bit of the green-eyed monster's wrath (jealousy), considering the pain he's feeling is on the left side of his chest?

 _There has to be an explanation for the pain I'm enduring…_

His thoughts were abruptly interrupted by Nyla who placed the two animatronic components on the workbench and exited the boxed. She may have had grace being a dancer but definitely not when it came down to exiting square containers. However, nothing but euphoria radiated off of her; in fact, she was ecstatic. Not even tripping and making contact with the cold concrete could ruin this moment-she still had her smile and not even a colorful phrase exited her mouth. Now that was saying something.

The sight of her bright smile seemed to have soothed his pain. He lent her a hand up. She took it and they both began to work. "Alright-ah. Now we're cookin'."

"I thought we were assembling?"

She stuck her tongue out at him, playfully making him chuckle.

* * *

*3:47 A.M*

A solid hour had passed and both Nyla and Ennard have made some incredible head way assembling Foxy's new suit. Ennard, at the moment, is currently applying some adhesive to a circular cut out in the animatronics fluffy pink chest cavity to insert the speaker. While Nyla on the other hand is busy soldering Foxy's voice sequencers to a sound card. Every node she soldered required a still hand and serious precision. There had to be enough space between the connectors and the sound card, otherwise the speaker may not work.

"God the fumes are strong" She muttered under her breath, not realizing she actually said that out loud. Ennard heard her and stopped what he was doing to crack the door directly behind them.

"Oh, thanks En" She looked over her shoulder to see him walking back her direction. He smiled at her and replied, "Yeah no problem. How are you coming along with the sound card?" Asking while he took a seat next to her.

"Almost done. Just have a few more nodes to solder and it'll be done, hopefully."

There was a few minutes of concentrated silence between them until Ennard spoke up.

"Hey Ny if you don't mind me asking" _Gah that stupid pain is back_ "how did you know right away that that was your friend, Foxy's circuit board?" Ennard asked trying to make the insertion in the chest cavity as smooth as possible for the speaker to slide in, trying not get any adhesive on his fingers.

"Well at first I wasn't sure, but I remembered Foxy had this cool looking hook insignia thing etched into his chip when I first put 'em together. Plus, his circuit board had a distinct rust color to it that matched his tough and rugged image back in the day. So, yeah… memories." She trailed off adding the finishing touches to the board. Holding it up to the light, she checked for imperfections from the liquid iron.

 _There we go._ Ennard managed to fit the speaker into place, following Nyla's procedure by checking for imperfections before making the hand off.

"Huh…" He could feel what felt like a knife twist, making the pain almost unbearable. But Ennard tried hard to ignore it and wanted to know more about this Foxy fellow. "I know he was a pirate thanks to the blueprints, but what was his personality. Was he a rough character or-" Nyla cut him off rather quickly, not meaning to as she took the chest cavity.

"Oh no he wasn't a rough character at all…" She trailed of for a moment with a yawn. "His personality kind of reminded me of a fatherly figure, very protective over the kids that would play around his cove. He would always warn them to not run, or even be mean to others around his cove otherwise… ye be forced the wok da plank" She tried to mimic the animated pirate but miserably failed trying. "Anyway, the manufacturer over at Freddy Fazbears really wanted to capture Foxy's image by making him look like a rough character. They designed his pirate costume to look like he desperately needed a new suit and I mean _desperately_ ; you know dirty, worn and torn like an actual pirate, things like that. But… he still managed to retain that fun pirate-dad aspect, entertaining, sparking kids' imaginations ya'know with his sea shanty's and stories, that sort of thing." She looked at him with tired eyes before covering her mouth politely to yawn once again. Instantly, Ennards pain seemed to have disappeared and he felt better being around Foxy, not that he was a threat to him or anything.

 _Well, at least that inexplainable pain is gone, for now._

There was another comfortable silence for a moment while Nyla installed the voice sequencer to the speaker.

"Alright, speakers installed just gotta' touch these two connectors here and-" Just as Nyla connected the two wires there was a surge of electricity that surged from the sequencer. "Son of ah-freakin'-ow!" For a moment there was a shriek from the small surge of electricity that nipped at her fingertips.

 _I've had worse… on the bright side it's just your blood, bones and internal organs getting zapped, nothing to worry about really._ Internally, she sarcastically joked with herself.

As quick as a flash, literally, both of her fingers were in her mouth trying to cool the stinging sensation. Off to her side Ennard could be heard snickering to himself.

"Whap's oh wunny Eh?" She asked trying to sound somewhat threatening even though she failed with her childish talk. Ennard couldn't take it anymore and started laughing hysterically until his eyes watered. Nyla removed her still tingling fingers from her mouth looking at the damage.

 _Well on the brighter side you can still slap him with this hand for laughing at your pain._ She sighed relieved that there wasn't any visible burns, just tingling vibrations remained.

She shot Ennard a glare who was about to collapse due to lack of oxygen. "What's so funny En?" Sounding more threatening than before.

"Y-you-ha, your-ha-ha, your-" Ennard banged his fist against the workbench trying to get a handle on his laughter. "hair-ha. Your hair Ny." He managed to say before breaking into another laughing fit.

She stared at him quizzically trying to comprehend what he just said. She grabbed her wrench from her back pocket. Squinting, she tried to make out her own reflection, then it hit her. "My God… I look like I got my head stuck in a cotton candy machine in tornado city." She snorted to herself which caused Ennard to laugh even more. Removing her electrical gloves, Nyla smoothed her hair back down to a somewhat decent punk pixie cut rather than a statically charged cotton ball. "Machine oil, keeps your machines runnin' smooth and a your girls hair punked up" Ennard dramatically gasped for air "Gah… uhh… that… was funny. You reminded me of this little girl that was here yesterday. I think it was her older brother or something, he took a red balloon and rubbed his sister's hair with it and her hair-" He broke into another laughing fit, smaller than the one just now. "H-h-her-" He coughed regaining his composure. "Her hair stood on end with the balloon attached to it." This elicited a chuckle out of the both of them. "That was good, I think we both needed that. Now let's try this again, otherwise you may have to add fried sausage fingers as an option for pizza toppings." Ennard chuckled, hoping she wasn't actually being serious.

* * *

*4:31 A.M.*

"Well… shit… I think the manufacture may have screwed up En. Either that or whoever salvaged Foxy's chip ugh… may have salvaged the wrong animatronic." Nyla held out the schematic like a treasure map, looking it over repeatedly.

"What makes you say that?" Ennard walked over to where Nyla was standing observing the fully assembled animatronic. "It looks fine to me."

"Look closer" She looked at him then at back at the animatronic.

"So, his outer shell is pink and white with a red bow tie. Not a big deal." Ennard shrugged and Nyla face palmed.

 _He doesn't get it._

"Ennard… look at the face… and the muzzle… and the fingertips" She practically listed the 'problems' for him and she couldn't bear to look up.

Ennard placed his hands on his knees, scanning the fox upside and down the other, then it hit him.

"Oh… oh!" He shifted his gaze over to her then back to the other animatronic, repeatedly.

"See, you see it now don't ya." She looked up.

"Yeah… pink eyeshadow, pink lipstick, cotton candy pink fingernails, and a whole lot of pink. So, are you thinkin'-?" She hummed interrupting Ennard.

"this shell er body was made for a female animatronic. Probably for Mangle over at Fazbears second location." She tucked the schematic in her back pocket and leaned against the door.

He continued to observe the animatronic. "Mangle?" He glanced back towards her with a puzzled expression.

"Another female animatronic I had to repair countless times, until I was told by the manager of the establishment to 'just stop' cause the kids kept breaking her. Poor thing went through a lot." She shook her head in disagreement with the managers action.

"I mean… the lipstick and eyeshadow aren't that noticeable as long as you're not like this…" Ennard bugged his eyes out gazing intently at the animatronics lips, trying to lighten up the issue at hand. They both snickered a bit with Ennard stepping away from the lifeless machine.

"Fair" She agreed. "Heh… I guess Foxy's going to be in for a bit of a surprise when I wakes up, huh?" She softly chuckled to herself.

Just hearing his name again made Ennard hurt.

 _Why am I feeling this way?_ Ennard sincerely inquired himself.

 _Why…?_

There was a slight pause.

"Listen Ny I know I already asked you this, but are you sure it is in fact Foxy's chip? I mean what if that chip isn't Foxy's and… what if he doesn't remember you? Or what if the chip was, I don't know… wiped or reprogrammed?" She was silent for a moment.

"Hmm… you bring up a good point, I didn't even think of that. Well, I guess that is a possibility that the chip did get wiped, which would suck. All his memories would be discarded and-" Ennard interrupted her thought pattern.

 _Hey jackass you get a brownie point for being an ass. Apologize to her. Now!_ Internally, Ennard scolded himself. Even though he wasn't trying to sway Nyla, he didn't want to hurt her.

"Sorry not trying to be a Debby downer, just thinking out loud… I'll shut up." He nervously placed his hand behind his neck.

"Oh no your fine I do that all the time." She put on a fake smile trying to hide the disappointment that it may not be Foxy. "But you are right, that very well may be a possibility… I don't see the point though. To go through the trouble to erase the personality that the chip is programmed with and then reprogram it with another… that would take way too much time and a hell of a lot of money. Plus, I don't even know if that is possible, especially with today's tech. Osbourne's aren't equipped with that kind of processing power." She bit her lip pondering every possibility and outcome.

"Well I guess we'll find out soon enough huh Ny." Ennard rubbed his eye as he slid down in front of the door, next to Nyla.

She hummed in agreement and sat next to him awaiting for the animatronic to resurrect from its hibernation.

"I will say one thing. I thought _you_ were hard to put together, man I was _way_ off base." They both chuckled at her comment and continued to wait.

* * *

*4:41 A.M.*

About ten minutes have passed away and there was still no movement, not even a sound of a working servo from the lifeless machine. They both sat together silently, listening to Nyla's Walkman playing softly in background. All was calm until Ennard stood up to observe the newly assembled animatronic.

"Eh Ny, why isn't he booting up yet? It's been about ten minutes." He leaned forward looking at the closed eyelids of the lifeless machine, studying it for signs of life.

 _Nothing… strange. Maybe he-_

A loud pop sound could be heard echoing off of the walls in the room, which abruptly pulled him out of his thoughts. Ennard turned around and cocked his head at her with slight concern. As he looked at her there was a pink handprint that was in the center of her forehead.

"Ugh… is everyt-?" He questioned but was interrupted.

"I… forgot… to install… the… chip again." She said with an exasperated tone when she stood quickly. Ennard didn't waste any time and stepped out of her way. He didn't want to be in her line of fire considering she stamped her feet furiously, surely, he knew she was just playfully being over dramatic, nothing intentional but still… Better safe than sorry.

Nyla recklessly reached for her plyers on the workbench, muttering colorful phrases under her breath. "frickin' frankin' stupid chip shit again…" When reached she accidently knocked some accessories off of her work zone. "Oh great, even better." Luckily, some of her curses were inaudible, and just sounded like senseless bickering from a short distance away. Ennard still heard some of it and snickered to himself.

Her fingers slide firmly feeling in between the pink and white synthetic fur for the seem that would lead to Foxy's port, to install his chip.

A small crevasse was found, and the casing opened, revealing Foxy's endoskeleton, and operating mechanism aka his CPU. In her hand Foxy's chip laid wedged between the teeth of her plyers waiting for installation. Before she did the insertion, there was something nagging in the back of her mind.

 _Nyla cool your jets a little… Yeah, I know your tired and it has been one hell of night working with an asshole, getting your ass spied on by a robot who can't keep his eyes to himself, and also getting the living daylights scared out of ya, but hang in there. This will all be worth it just trust and listen to yourself. Push through, finish strong, just like mom always said… Just look at the positives, you'll get to see Foxy again, hopefully, and… You get your own private dance partner for the night… That reminds me, when was the last time you danced with someone you enjoyed spending time with?_ She mentally slapped herself just for hinting and thinking about that last comment.

 _Hey, brain do us all–me a favor, shut up and focus._

There was slight hesitation for a moment but only for moment… Slowly but ever so softly Nyla inserted the chip, gently releasing the grip on her plyers for the teeth to give.

The irritation that she felt, slowly left her body as Foxy's operating system could be heard booting up. The sound it emitted was calming, and rather close to an old dial up tone. As quickly as the sound of the system warmed up it was gone and small pixelated words in bright light green appeared on a screen in his suit.

 _Chip inserted… Searching… Reading... Checking for necessary updates and requirements… Installation at 1%... Estimated Completion Time: 1 hour. Please Stand By…_

"Please Stand By?" She whispered to herself.

 _Well that's new… Don't remember seeing that before. Maybe it really isn't Foxy after all._

Relieved by the sight of his system starting up, she closed Foxy back up with a 'dull thunk' sound.

Stepping off to the side, Nyla hoisted herself up and over the workbench. For a split second she disappeared and reappeared. Ennard didn't realize that she was just grabbing her Walkman, which fell when she was 'reaching' for her plyers. Sliding over the top of the workbench again, Nyla retrieved her Walkman and managed to knock off more of her tools.

 _Gah damnit…_

She leaned over and picked them back up off the floor with her free hand and returned them to their proper home, in her tool bag. Ennard who had retired to the lovely concrete floor earlier, noticed and stood up to help.

With all of her tools returned to their proper location, now the fun can really begin.

"Whelp, chips _finally_ installed, Foxy's doing updates and we finished with plenty of time to spare. You ready to this thing or what?" She locked eyes with him sounding ecstatic. He nodded in return.

"Ugh huh. Teach meh wise one."

Stooping down, Nyla rummaged through her duffle bag once again to grab something, and quite frankly he didn't know what.

She stood back up, with what appeared to be a cassette in hand, and walked over to her workbench, where her Walkman lay. "You know… I really like the sound of that. Nyla the wise one, kinda has a ring to it ya'know." With her back turned away from him, she smiled to herself.

"Hey, don't let it go to your head." He bantered with her.

"Too late. Already there." She looked over her shoulder and stuck out her tongue, like a child.

The cartridge holder for the Walkman opened to reveal another cassette inside which she replaced with the new one she retrieved from her bag. From where Ennard stood something seemed to have caught his attention. On the cassette tape there was writing, subtle and small, but not too small that it blurred from a long distance away. Beautiful cursive labeled the first cassette with the words _Everlasting._ Although another word may have come after, but it was badly worn and smudged beyond recognition. The other cassette that was replaced showed a few words, _Brought to Life._

 _Strange… I wonder why a cassette would have such strange connotation written on it. Maybe it signifies her dancing experience when… Oh perhaps this is the cassette that brought her dancing to life, the one that gave her inspiration to be more than a ballet dancer. That's gotta be it._

Ennard didn't delve too deeply into the meaning of the writing that was engraved on the cassette with blue sharpie. Even though other thoughts flooded his processor, he seemed to have brushed them off when Nyla shut the devices lid and began to rewind the cassette. His eyes darted up at her anxiously, and his gaze met hers. He decided to take a few steps forward without saying a word, but as he came closer, she seemed to have vanished into the darkness.

 _What the…!?_

"N-n-nyla…?" He gazed around the room, no signs of her anywhere.

 _Ok that was cool and creepy at the same time._

Surrounding Ennard was nothing but a dimly lit room with nothing but an overhead light hanging above him. It was like he was frozen again. Except, earlier it was a pleasant feeling to witness. This felt different. It was something he hadn't experienced until now, fear. It's like a monster lurking in a child's closet, waiting to strike when it sees an opportunity. Just the fact, knowing something is there in the darkness, made the suspense worse.

As he stood frozen beneath the light that shown on him the Walkman stopped rewinding, uttering a clicking sound. He jumped a bit and shifted his attention towards the sound. Round and round, the players gears turned the cassettes black magnetic strip within. Just seconds later the sound of drums and synths filled the air with a fast-paced tempo, and Ennards fear began to subside.

 ** _Just a steel town girl on a Saturday night_**

 ** _Lookin' for the fight of her life_**

 ** _In the real time world no one sees her at all_**

 ** _They all say she's crazy…_**

At least that's what he thought until something touched him, and what touched him felt inhuman not even mechanical. Almost like a small insect with eight legs but slightly larger, like a spider. He took in a breath pleading that that wasn't it. He held it in as if it was his last, listening; feeling, fearful what was going to happen next. Whatever it was slowly made its decent tracing his back. Diagonally, the sensation descended his shoulder; down the center of his spine which shot an icy cold shiver down his metal skeleton; finally, the sensation stopped at his forearm. Ennard exhaled since the sensation stopped then the strangest thing happened. Out of the corner of his eye he saw movement, a figure. Then it hit him.

 _That's not a spider I'm feeling. Those are fingers brushing my back._

 ** _Locking rhythms to the beat of her heart_**

 ** _Changing movement into light_**

 ** _She has danced into the danger zone_**

 ** _When the dancer becomes the dance_**

The figure then stepped around Ennard taking form in the light, revealing a female figure.

"Nyla!?" Was all he managed to say before she grasped both of his arms pulling him towards her.

"Do you trust me?" She asked. Their bodies just feet between each other.

It took about a second of two to comprehend what she had said but he nodded anyway, skeptical.

"Good…" Just as she said that her grasp loosened on his arms. Descending gently her hands stroked Ennards arms, and she took his hands into hers, tenderly. A sweet feeling of bliss ran through them both as their fingers laced together; mechanical on flesh.

Poor Ennard, he was wide eyed and shocked by such tenderness.

She wasn't trying to torture him, but the action made it seem and feel that way, cause the heat in Ennard rose again. This time it had a mind of its own, penetrating the grooves and crevasses of his suit. Even Nyla felt it radiating out of his suit, and if things couldn't get any worse that sound returned as well, louder than before.

 _I'm so screwed._

Ennard let out an awkward nervous chuckle and shifted his gaze to the floor, helplessly unsure what to do now that he was caught.

 _Aww he's nervous, how sweet. Hey, don't pick on him Ny. Remember your first-time dancing with a guy, how awkward that was for you…? Oh God no, were not reminiscing, not right now and I prefer that memory be left untold and obliterated in an incinerator or better yet, the fiery depths of hell thank you very much._

The lyrics to the song playing in the background brought her back into reality.

 ** _It can cut you like a knife…_**

She knew what Ennard was feeling, the nervousness, the heat, everything. That was all normal for a new inexperienced dancer. At least that's what Nyla gathered from his body language even though she is ignorant of the fact Ennard has feelings for her. Either way she tried to make light of it "Hey, loosen up a bit I don't bite, you know that." She squeezed his hands reassuring him with a tender smile.

He returned her gaze feeling his systems cooling down slightly, even though he still felt anxious with their hands entwined.

"I know. I ugh…" He coughed. "I-its just-are dancer partners usually this close Ny?" He asked with a helpless expression washing over his face.

"No" She answered quickly closing the gap of daylight between them. "They're much closer" She said still with a tender smile.

At this point Ennard felt as if he was about to explode, not from the sound or the heat that now saturated his face plate with a deep shade of red, no. As if their touch wasn't enough to light a fuse if it could. It was their proximity; how close they now were.

 ** _If the gift becomes the fire_**

Ennard stood there like a flustered fool, stuttering making no sense whatsoever while Nyla chuckled to herself.

"C'mon Stutter Butter the best part of the song is coming up. I promise you; you don't want to miss this opportunity, it's gonna be fun."

Nyla parted her fingers from his own, breaking their hands embrace to help guide his hand. Lightly her touch grazed the area just above his wrist. Then in one fluent motion, she wrapped her fingers tenderly around his lower forearm, pulling gently on his wrist, guiding his hand where it found its home just above her waist, to rest.

 _I'm overheating and we haven't even begun to dance._

Ennard was wide eyed and dazed. That is until Nyla's hand found its home on his shoulder snapping him out of the daze when their other hands began to rise.

 ** _On a wire between will and what will be_**

"Here we go."

 _Oh boy._ He thought not feeling confident.

With that, Ennard followed in the experienced dancers' footsteps, literally, desperately trying not to make a fool of himself.

 ** _She's a maniac, maniac on the floor_**

 ** _And she's dancing like she's never danced before_**

 ** _She's a maniac, maniac on the floor_**

 ** _And she's dancing like she's never danced before_**

What started off as quick swaying, like waltzing, transformed into fancy free footwork, and to Ennards surprise he actually wasn't doing half bad. Either that or Nyla was just making him look less foolish, which was a definite possibility.

 ** _On the ice-blue line of insanity_**

 ** _Is a place most never see_**

 ** _It's a hard-won place of mystery_**

 ** _Touch it, but can't hold it_**

"Hey you're doing great" She reassured. "You wanna try and twirl me?"

 ** _You work all your life for that moment in time_**

"Ugh yeah sure" Enanrds confidence tanked a bit but seeing the sight of Nyla's shinning smile brought it back up; reassuring him he could do this.

 ** _It could come or pass you by_**

With that he grabbed her hand and swirled her beneath his arm.

 ** _It's a push-shove world, but there's always a chance_**

"Ye-he-he-yeah" She gleefully grinned from ear to ear as she rebounded against the twirl, like a rubber band, back into Ennards arms. Even though she couldn't see what was happening in front of her, since her eyes were closed while they danced. Ennard was on cloud nine, grinning from ear to ear as well feeling the coloring in his face plate when Nyla reentered into his embrace.

 _I think I could get used to this._

* * *

*5:50 A:M*

 _Installation successful. Databanks_kiddy_stories up to date. All necessary updates complete. Please Stand By…_

 ** _Well did I tell you before_**

 ** _When I was up_**

 ** _Anxiety was bringing me down_**

 ** _I'm tired to listening to you_**

 ** _Talking in rhymes_**

 ** _Twisting around to make me think_**

 ** _You're straight down the line_**

 ** _All you do to me is talk talk_**

 ** _If every sign that I see complete_**

 ** _Then I'm a fool in your game_**

 _Yar, what be that rack- Aye, wait a moment I recognize that sea chantey anywhere. That be the repair lass's music._

 _Initializing…_

Not even a second later, Foxy's eyes fluttered open with anticipation and excitement to quite a sight unfolding in front of him. There stood two individuals dancing, might he even say quite well considering the rooms lighting was rather dark. While he watched the two, one figure, caught his attention, the shorter one. He sat and stared at the two until it hit him.

 _Shiver me timbers! That be me lassie, Nyla. Damn thee sands of time to Davey Jones's Locker, the lass has grown up a wee-bit since I saw 'er last. But… Aye who be the landlubber yonder?_

Foxy shifted his gaze from Nyla to the only and other figure in the room, Ennard. Squinting his eyes, Foxy did not recognize the male figure and little did he know that squinting initializes his facial scanners. Silently, he scanned the taller figure and what he found seemed to have shocked him.

 _Blimey!? The land lubber ain't even a landlubber, he be another machine-like entertainer like I._ Without a doubt, Foxy wasn't expecting Ennard to be an animatronic. _Aye wait a minute, how did I do that and where am I?_ He peered around the strange room. _This ain't a place fer a pirate, where be me comfy cove? Where's me lass mangle? Where be me crew?_ Many questions flooded Foxy's anxious CPU. Even though he wasn't scared, just confused by the new surroundings. _Yar, maybe I should ask the lassie and the odd landlubber yonder, where this old seadog and me crew may be after they finish their dance?_

Meanwhile, Foxy sat observing in silence, watching the two finish their dance with the taller figure dipping Nyla. Both seemed quite exhausted from dancing, especially Nyla who was panting heavily, sweat rolling down the side of her face and back, moistening her white tank top.

 _Finally, I can ask me questions and hopefully, the lass can give me some answers!_

"Avast ye shipmates," He startled them and they both peered in his direction. "that be some fancy foot work ye got their…" He trailed off just as Nyla and Ennard interrupted him. "Oh my God…" They both stated in unison, glancing at each other then at the brightly colored fox as if something was the matter.

"Yar what be the matter lassie? It is I Foxy the Pirate." A sense of worry enveloped Foxy making his oil and hydraulics run cold.

Ennard lifted his dance partner back up from the dip, so she was level. She strolled over to Foxy, hesitant, and unsure. Almost as if she was approaching a hurt wild animal, skeptical if it would make an unpredictable move when she got closer. As she approached, Ennard decided to retire to a spot in the back of the room to watch, and silently observe.

They came face to face; Nyla stood while Foxy still remained sitting on the workbench. But before she could make a move or say anything, Foxy enveloped her in a warm and welcoming hug, like a parent who hasn't seen their child in years. She was stunned, unsure, hesitant if she should return his embrace.

"Aye lassie you've grown up so much… Why do ye look at me like a stranger? It be me… i-it's… papa Fo-" He began to say just as he felt arms encircling his torso, returning his embrace.

"Papa Foxy!" She finished his sentence, tears pricking the corners of her eyes as she hugged him back. Finally, realizing it was truly Foxy and not another animatronic mimicking his persona.

 _Huh so… Foxy is like her adoptive father? Well maybe not exactly, but… She did say he was very protective and acts like a fatherly figure to kids..._ Ennards thoughts wandered fromthe back of the room.

Foxy broke their embrace and looked deeply into Nyla's eyes. A small stream of tears broke the barrier and softly rolled down her cheeks. Empathetically, he wiped her tears away with his paws "Yahahar, lassie them be salty tears fer nuthin'. Remember when ye were younger I told ye, ye won't be able to get rid of this pirate that easily, too ornery, old, but-" Assuring her.

"but not obsolete. Yeah, I know and… I remember pops. I'm just… so happy your back." She let out a choked-up smile, forgetting why she started crying in the first place.

"that be me girl" A smile reappeared on both of their faces as they both leaned in for another hug.

"Listen here lassie…" This time she broke their embrace. "this pirate has a few questions fer ya-"

"Pops if you're wondering about your suit, why its pink and white I can totally explain, kinda." She answered him confidently assuming his question. "The manufacturer that manufactured this suit to you screwed up. My guess is when they heard the name Foxy they immediately thought 'oh female name female suit'. Either that or the engineers who were removing your guys chips during the move accidentally mistook your chip for Mangles, cause she's pink, and white. S-s-so, so… so" She stuttered noticing a deer in the heads light expression on Foxy's face. "ugh you don't have the slightest idea what I'm talking about do you pop?"

"Yar, no but I do now lassie!" He exclaimed letting out a small laugh. "Whatever this old pirate looks like, it can't be too bad, if not worse than what I had before. Hand me something reflective lassie." With that Nyla handed over her wrench, that she used earlier, so Foxy could see himself.

"Bloody Hell!" With that outburst, Foxy handed her back her wrench quickly. Knowing he saw enough.

"So, ugh yeah… sorry pops" She tucked the wrench in her leg bag with a nervous grin.

"Yar, a pirate is supposed to look, rough, his materials be torn by the salty sea air, and most of all a pirate must smell and look like he's never bathed in months even though he be surrounded by the deep blue sea." He huffed while he finished ranting about his new suit.

"See told you En almost identical what I said earlier" She purposely called him out waiting for a rebuttal. But instead he just smiled at her with goofy grin, watching their family reunion from the shadows. Foxy didn't notice that Nyla was talking to Ennard since he was distraught and frustrated with his new attire.

"Yar, if I see those manufactures, I'll make 'em walk the plank fer doing this to me. For Christ sake those scallywags didn't even return me pirates hook. It's not manly." Poor Foxy crossed his arms and pouted like a child.

"More like it's not Foxy." She corrected, finding some amusement in his misfortune.

"Aye aye." He paused for a moment. "I hate to say it lassie, but I think yer right, this suit really be fer me lass, Mangle, not I cause… well ye knows ye repaired 'er. She be pink and white, and I be red-ish like a pirates rum." He smiled at her forgetting his anger towards the suit.

"Wait… hang on. You keep calling me lassie, but you call Mangle lass. What's up with that pirate lingo?" A bemused expression of inquiry played on her face.

"Yahahar, about four years ago after ye repaired Mangle fer the final time and ye left fer Fazbears fright. Well… Mangle and I got together after about a month when ye left, and we've been together ever sense. She be me sweet lass, me one and only that I'd sail the seven seas with, she be me girl and ye be me lassie, me little girl." Instantly, a huge smile played on Nyla's face.

 _Huh so Foxy is like a father to her, interesting._ Ennard made a mental note not to forget.

"Aww you too are a thing…" Nyla practically squealed and jumped up and down with much enthusiasm. At least that is until her excitement disappeared "and I missed it! Dang it!" She deadpanned realizing she had just missed a special moment in their lives.

"It be ok lassie, ye didn't miss much" He smiled at her trying to brush off him and Mangle.

"But… ooooo Foxy, Mangles gonna be jealous." With a singsong voice, Nyla hinted at something obvious that Foxy was missing.

There was a slight pause in the room, while Foxy thought.

"Why do ye say that lassie?" He muttered conceding defeat.

Nyla uttered a small snicker under her breath before she spoke. "Because your modeling her suit, pops!"

A devilish smirk played on the mechanical Foxes face plate, "Well I guess I do look quite cunning in this suit now don't I lassie?" He waggled his pink eyebrows at her, proceeding to show off by flexing and posing. "Even though I don't have me pirate hook or appeal do ye really think me Mangle would like it, ye know if I saw'er like this?" Just as Nyla was about to respond, Ennard finally decided to step out of the shadows and join in the conversation.

"If she's pink and white like what your describing her sir, then yes. I feel like your 'new suit' suits you well." Ennard felt an icy cold gaze from pink pirate stab at him, making him tense up when he realized he had mistakenly made another pun without even realizing it.

 _I should just stick to the shadows in this place. My big mouth is going to get me in trouble._

"Ahoy beyond the shadows lad, I don't think I caught yer name me Bucco." Foxy's gaze softened a little which caused Ennard to relax a bit. Hearing the welcoming tone in the pirates voice melted away his fear. "Nyla, who be this… stranger." He pulled her closer only for her to hear him whisper to her. "Between ye and I, he looks like one of them pepper mint sticks ye get around the cold season." She giggled at Foxy's thought, thinking of Ennard that way was quite amusing to her.

She walked away from Foxy. Returning to Ennard, elbowing him playfully. "Well this 'pepper mint stick' you speak of is Ennard."

"Ennard ye say lassie?" Foxy eyed Ennard up one side down the other, making him feel a little uncomfortable. Then beckoned him over to shake his paw. "Aye put 'er there lad." With that response Ennard proceeded to shake hands with the pirate.

"Respectable, strong grip ye got their lad," Without hesitation Ennard was pulled closer to Foxy which he was spoken to inaudibly so Nyla couldn't hear "I sense ye know how to treat a _lassie_ young fellow" He hinted with a wink.

"Wha-?"

"welcome aboard me crew, lad." Foxy released Ennard's grip leaving him with a perplexed expression.

 _What was that about? Wha-?_ Ennard internally questioned himself.

"That's just his way of saying he likes ya En." Nyla reassured him placing her hand on his shoulder, breaking his thought pattern.

"Oh… well that's good-great, that's great." He responded to her, stuttering, before directing his attention back at the pink fox. "Thank you, sir." He tried answering respectfully, still comprehending what the pirate had just said.

There was something strange about this pirate fox, but Ennard couldn't quite put his finger on it. What was it that he knew that he didn't?

"Aight Lassie, back on topic."

"Oh yeah right, questions. Lay it on me pops!" She stated with a nervous grin.

"Where be this pirate?"

"Well ugh… I'm guessing you mean where do reside now? This is like Freddy Fazbears franchised location, but it's under a new name, Circus Baby's Pizzeria. Has a nice little ring to it" She rambled for moment. "Anyway, this location is about eh 10-12 miles from here to the other location where Mangle and your 'crew' perform. I hope that answers your question."

"Yahahar ye be a little fortune teller lassie, ye answered three of me questions with one answer." That was Foxy's way of complimenting her.

"I wish I was a fortune teller" She muttered inaudibly under her breath. "Any more questions pops?" She stated trying to sound enthusiastic, even though she was getting tired.

"Yar, one more lassie. Where be me pirates cove?"

"Your pirates- Oh oh oh yeah your cove. As soon as you walk out this door go straight, walk past the nightguards office and make a left. If you reach Circus Gallery you went too far. We tried to make things seem like home, so we kept your purple star curtain." A bright toothy smile played on her face as she answered Foxy.

"Aww thanki lassie fer that and the infermation ugh but Lassie don't ye need to get a move on?"

"Why do you say that Pops?" She looked at him bewildered by his question and the sudden change of subject.

"It may be me o'l animatronic instincts, but I believe it be six a.m."

Nyla looked at the digital clock on her walkie talkie for verification. "Shit it is! I need to pack up my stuff before Rick gets pissy again" She swiftly grabbed all of her belongings. Stuffing them into her duffle bag, not caring about organization for now. "Ennard can I trust you to show Foxy around and get on stage before Rick sees and the restaurant opens for the day?"

"Course" He gave her a sincere look followed up by a soft smile.

"You're a life saver." She breathed out relieved.

Like a Tasmanian devil the room was quickly put back in order, kinda. There still were some animatronic pieces lying around here and there but Nyla was coming back every night until the end of the week. So, it really didn't matter if the room was still in a bit of a disarray.

"Alright I'm packed, hopefully I'm not forgetting anything" She muttered to herself as she stood observing her surroundings. "Ok see you two tonight." She said smiling at the both of them as she slung her duffle bag over her shoulder, making her way over to the door.

"Aye aye Lassie."

"Cya Ny" Said somewhat breathlessly, like a sigh.

With that Nyla left the two animatronics in the room alone without saying another word.

There was a small silence that filled the air until the pirate uttered a small snicker under his breath, which caused Ennard to catch his attention.

Ennard felt a firm grip on his shoulder, "Yahahar, I can tell ye got a heart for the lassie yonder lad."

"Wha- L-listen with all due respect sir, I can't speak pirate that well, let alone comprehend it." Ennard looked at the pirate with a sincere apologetic expression.

"Yar, what I be trying to say is ye have taken a liking to the lassie"

Ennard just stared blankly like an idiot, still not understanding what Foxy was getting at.

"Yar, were ye built with a steel skull lad?" Foxy squinted his eyes at the clown, suspiciously.

"Eh n-no, sir?" Ennard desperately tried to avoid eye contact with the pirate, even though his golden eyes could practically burn a hole through a destroyer if he laid eyes on one.

Foxy kept his eyes fixed on the now internally squirming clown. At least, that was until he did something a little…odd. The old pirate was silent, his interrogational gaze shifted to Ennards chest plate. He cocked his head so his white fuzzy ear was somewhat brushing up against Ennard, listening but for what?

 _Ok this is getting too weird for me. What is he doing?_ Ennard felt himself getting very nervous with this 'pirate'.

But before he could say anything the pirate lifted his head and muttered something under his breath. "Just as I suspected."

 _Wait what?_

It was like a predator capturing and slashing at its prey within its grasp. Foxy jabbed at Ennards chest plate, full force with his paws without any hesitation. A hatch opened up, which he quickly grabbed forcing it open, to reveal Ennards innards and endo skeleton. Nothing could have prepared him for such a sudden and freakish action.

"Are you insane!?" He jumped, backing away from the pirate fearful with his chest plate wide open, like a door. He glanced down for a split second only to look back up shaking, seeing his own insides. "I think I'm going to be sick…" He huffed trying not to view the wires and metal that lay within himself.

"Trust me lad. I mean ye no harm, pirates honor." He raised a paw promising the scared animatronic, trying to alleviate his fears. "But this o'l seadog has an important question to ask ye, if ye'll let me?"

Ennards synthetic nervous system started calming, releasing his fears. Still he didn't trust the pirate and a promise didn't mean anything but deep down he wanted to hear what he had to say. Maybe he had some answers as to why he's been acting the way he has.

"F-fine." He muttered trying to sound strong.

"Listen Bucco… ye hear that? That beat beat beat pattern when ye hear 'er think of 'er name? That's what I be listening to through your chest earlier, lad."

Ennard listened to the pirates rambling then focused his attention to his systems working. That is until he thought about her; he heard the sound the pirate was referring to. "Y-yeah I hear it. So… what's the big deal?" He said not sounding convinced and amused.

"Look to see fer ye self where the sound come from, lad."

Ennard was hesitant, but who could blame him. Who would want to see their own insides beating and functioning in front of their own eyes? Seems a little morbid.

He felt his stomach turn a bit and blanched. Until the awful feeling of nausea left, he didn't look, he only tilted his head back, willing away the awful feeling.

His stomach settled slightly, and he took in a breath to look where the sound was coming from. What it was surprised him. What he felt wasn't disgust, or sickness, no. It was sweet.

"That be something a human would call a heart, lad. When one feels that beat fer another… it means you've found yer one and only. One lad, or lass in yer matter, that ye want to spend eternity with, forever. Look at me lass Mangle, she be thee only one fer me…" He trailed off until the clown responded.

"I-I-I don't understand, why are you telling me all this Foxy?" He stated with rash confusion.

Foxy looked at Ennard with melancholy eyes, "L-lad… once yer lass puts us all together, she'll be forced to set sail yet again, beyond this restaurant, beyond yer reach."

"Wait you mean…" He blanched again with a pleading expression. He hoped Foxy wasn't being serious and he was lying.

"Ye won't see 'er again unless one of our servos is in need o repair, or we break lad" Foxy with his burning gold eyes, looked at Ennards sincerely. He was being truthful with the clown.

His words stung but the pain he felt earlier didn't compare to the pain he felt now. He didn't know he was going to lose Nyla, let alone not see her again. Just that thought began to eat away at him. But slowly he put the pieces together in his head.

 _That explains why she's never returned to some of the other eateries. When she's done, she's done and then the companies move her on to the next location._

Ennard put his face in his hands and grumbled.

"Don't worry lad, ye still have a lot o time with 'er. But if I were ye, I would relay the message to yer lass." Foxy tried cheering up the clown, but he still wasn't convinced.

He looked up from his hands, "What do you mean?"

"I mean tell 'er how ye feel. Ye'll have enough time, but if ye don't tell 'er by the end of the week-"

"She'll be gone. But… don't you think it's weird?" He asked with slight concern.

"Yar what me bucco?"

"A human and-" He started.

"Yar a Machine, lad?" He asked quizzically, knowing the answer.

"Well…" He was skeptical. "yeah if your referring to it that way, yeah."

"Aye, lad it be weird but… unique, new and modern. Ye and yer lass will have something no other will experience in their lifetime and that be somethin' very special."

Foxy's comment really stuck out in Ennards mind.

 _Could this really work, human and machine?_

"Just give it some thought lad and make yer decision before the sands in the hourglass run out, lad. Ye'll kick ye self if ye don't say anything to 'er soon."

With that response, Foxy closed up Ennards chest plate for him and gave him genuine nod of assurance.

"Thanks, Foxy. You know f-for… everything."

"Yar, it be my pleasure, lad. Come talk to this old seadog when ye like. Now do me a faver…"

"Yes, sir anything." He confidently smiled as if he was his captain.

Like a tired old man Foxy said "Escort this o'l pirate around this place. I want to see me cove. This o'l pirate need his rest fer entertainin' the kiddy's tomorrow."

"Aye aye captain."

After the pink fox pirate and the pepper mint stick had their fox to clown guy chat. Ennard showed his new neighbor too his cove, making a few stops along the way to sight-see and take in the new restaurant, almost getting caught in the process.

 **Authors Note:** **Ok woo! I'm never-probably-** **ever** **gonna do a 2 part thing again cuz that took way too freakin' long to do. Again, I apologize. Hope everyone's enjoying my story so far. I know it seems like an OC type story right now, but I promise you it's** **not** **gonna be like this for the entirety of the story. Good stuff is coming soon. Aaaaand when I mean good… something** **bad** **is going to happen. Nothing is ever right at a Fazbear location, evvvver.**

 **Authors Update:** **I am hoping to get a miniature chapter out before classes start back up, so keep your fingers crossed! Oh, and I don't if I mentioned this but the story is taking place in the 80's hence the 80's music artists. If your wondering about the lyrics, the first song is called Maniac by Michael Sembello and the second is Talk Talk by Talk Talk.**

 _~TheWastelander999_


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